Psychology Dictionary: 200 Fundamental Concepts

For a psychology student first year, the concepts and terms used while practicing as a psychologist may sound strange. There are many authors who, over more than two centuries of life, have been cementing the knowledge of what we know today as the science of behavior and mental processes.

Thus, psychologists and experimenters have been building a series of new words that are part of the slang of mental health professionals. Concepts that have even come to be used not only by therapists but also in common language.

Psychological dictionary: from A to Z

In this article we are going to review more than 200 terms, theories, disorders and authors that you should know if you are going to be a psychologist or psychologist. From a to Z.

TO

It refers to the presence of helplessness and unwillingness to act in order to achieve a desired goal. It can be considered the highest degree of apathy.

Attitude

Tendency to act or think in a certain way regarding a phenomenon, situation or stimulus concrete, derived from the experience or the transmission of concrete points of view regarding said reality.

Phobia or pathological and irrational fear of flying by plane.

Difficulty or absence of the ability to communicate effectively orally. These are language disorders caused by damage to brain areas linked to this ability. Aspects such as verbal fluency, comprehension, imitation or articulation can be affected.

Failure or alteration in the recognition of some type of stimulation. The stimulus is perceived through the senses, but a specific part or aspect of it is not recognized or the entire stimulus. It can occur in any sensory modality.

Phobia or irrational and high intensity fear of being or staying in places or situations in which it is not possible or it is difficult to escape or receive help in case of need, such as in places that gather a large number of people. It is usually identified with the fear of open spaces, although it is not limited to it.

Impoverishment and slowing down of thought. Impaired ability to formulate logical and interconnected thoughts, as well as to construct a coherent speech. Blockages are common.

Perceptual deception in which a stimulus that does not exist in the external environment is perceived, generally being convinced the subject who perceives it of its veracity. They can be of any sensory modality and be linked or not to certain stimuli.

Negative hallucination

Perceptual deception in which the subject is not able to perceive a stimulus that does exist in the real world. For example, it is not able to detect its image in a mirror. Despite this, in many cases the behavior is altered as if the individual were aware of the existence of the stimulus in question.

Anterograde amnesia

Inability to encode and record new information in memory.

Retrograde amnesia

Inability to remember past events, of greater or lesser severity.

Dissociative amnesia

Amnesia of psychic origin caused by the experience of a traumatic or highly stressful event. It is a retrograde amnesia, generally circumscribed to the autobiographical.

Analgesia

Absence or temporary elimination of the ability to perceive pain.

Anesthesia

Absence or temporary elimination of sensory perception. It can refer to the type of product used to produce it.

Absence or diminished presence of the ability to feel joy or pleasure, even in the face of stimulations previously considered pleasant.

Loss of appetite, which can be caused by many different circumstances

Anorexia nervosa

Disorder characterized by the rejection of the sufferer to maintain a minimum body weight, presenting fear of gaining weight and maintaining an alteration in the perception of their own body image. In order to reduce weight, you eat less and less or stop eating enough amounts, resorting in some cases to compensatory behaviors such as inducing vomiting or dieting strict. A restrictive and a purgative subtype can be found.

State of emotional distress or discomfort in anticipation of a possible aversive stimulation in the future, which generates cognitive, physiological and behavioral reactions.

Substance with psychoactive effects capable of helping to regulate, manage or eliminate a state of anxiety or distress.

Substance with psychoactive effects whose action is capable of combating states of emotional distress such as those of depressive states.

Lack of motivation to act, absence or diminished presence of interest.

Apraxia

Difficulty or absence of the ability to perform and coordinate sequenced movements.

Aprosexia

Maximum degree of decreased attention span. Lack of care and the ability to mobilize it.

Fitness

Ability to effectively and skillfully perform a certain type of action.

Asthenia

Lack of energy. Fatigue and a state of weakness that makes it difficult to carry out activities.

According to Albert Bandura's theory, self-confidence refers to the perception of one's own ability to achieve certain objectives and carry out various actions successfully. Also known as self-efficacy.

Set of thoughts and beliefs about the self that each individual has. It is the concept or image that each one has of himself.

It is a term that is used in psychology to designate the consideration and esteem that each individual professes towards his own person. It is about the assessment that a person makes of himself based on his self-concept.

Self-instructions

Set of internal vocalizations directed to oneself that are used to guide one's behavior through sequences of instructions.

B

Albert Bandura is one of the most influential and recognized psychologists, having been president of the American Psychological Association. The best-known studies of him make up the Social Learning Theory. For this author, behavior can be modified and replicated through the observation of behavioral models and their subsequent imitation.

A type of substance derived from barbituric acid that is used primarily as a hypnotic and sedative. Before the advent of benzodiazepines, they were the most widely used type of drug in the fight against anxiety and sleep disorders. Its therapeutic and toxic doses are very close and easily generate dependence, being the overdose relatively easy to achieve and can cause the death of the subject.

Type of substance traditionally used as an anxiolytic. They act mainly through the potentiation of gamma-aminobutyric acid, which reduces the level of activation of the brain. They are also used in the treatment of insomnia and other problems.

Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder characterized by an alteration between manic and depressive states. It can be type one, in which at least one manic episode has occurred, or type two in which no there has been no manic episode but there has been a hypomanic episode and one or more episodes depressive

Bradypsychia

Thought slowing.

Eating disorder characterized by the presence of binges in which control of eating is lost, followed by a feeling of guilt and compensatory behaviors carried out in order not to gain weight, such as the provocation of the threw up. Self-evaluation is sensibly linked to the appreciation of the body figure. It can be of the purgative or non-purgative type.

C

Catatonia

Disorder characterized by lack of mobility, waxy flexibility, opposition and negativism, ecosymptoms, mannerisms, perseverance, rigidity, silence, and stupor.

Organ located inside the skull, central element of the nervous system of most animals and especially vertebrates. Its main function is the direction and management of the set of systems that make up the body. Although the upper part of the brain, the cortex, is technically called the brain, this term generally refers to the whole brain.

Mood disorder characterized by the presence of changeable mood disturbances between depression (without it being meets the criteria for diagnosing major depression) and hypomanic euphoria, persistent continuously for at least two years. These fluctuations and symptoms are less than those of bipolar disorders, and it cannot be diagnosed.

Paradigm of psychology focused on the understanding and study of the cognitive processes that govern and regulate human behavior based on a scientific methodology based on reason.

Eat

Deeper state of loss of consciousness, in which the subject does not respond to any type of stimulation and which is due to an injury or serious alteration of brain function. Despite this, there is brain activity, so the person remains alive despite the fact that he may require respiration and artificial life support. The prognosis is highly variable depending on what has caused this state.

Behaviour

Way to act in a certain situation. It is often used as a synonym for behavior.

Ritualized act that is carried out with the purpose of alleviating the anxiety generated by a specific thought or act. Its realization does not imply a resolution of the problem, but in fact it provides feedback, so that the subject tends to repeat it in order to produce temporary relief.

Conduct

Any act or action carried out by an organism, generally intentionally and voluntarily.

One of the main paradigms of psychology. It is based on the premise of focusing research exclusively on empirical data demonstrable through experience, using the scientific method. It mainly analyzes the only directly observable correlate of the psyche, behavior. This is explained by the capture of the properties of the stimuli and the emission of the responses to them, as well as the association between stimuli and responses. It can be modified through learning, either through self-stimulation or through reinforcement or punishment of behaviors.

Countertransference

Projection of a set of feelings, reactions and emotions by the therapist on his patient, generated based on the existing link in the therapeutic relationship.

Convulsion

Violent, sudden and involuntary contractions of the muscles, generally generated by an alteration in brain activity. It is one of the most visible and well-known symptoms of epileptic seizures.

Cerebral cortex

Set of nervous tissue that forms the outermost and upper part of the brain and that allows the analysis and integration of the different information from the brain. medium, as well as the acquisition and realization of different skills and aptitudes such as speech, abstract thinking, intelligence or the ability to regulate the conduct.

Phobia or irrational fear of clowns, of unknown cause.

Craving

Anxiety and anguish felt by a subject due to a strong desire to consume a substance.

Structure composed mainly of the axons of a large number of neurons, which keeps interconnected the two cerebral hemispheres and allows the transmission and integration of information from both of them.

D

Alteration of the content of thought. A certain idea or belief is presented that is experienced as real and is characterized by being of great intensity, irrational and resistant to change despite evidence to the contrary.

Delirium

State of alteration of the level of consciousness of variable severity, sudden onset and short duration that causes a decrease in intellectual abilities and the presence of possible alterations in attention, memory, speech, perception and motor skills. Its origin is in a disease, intoxication or sensory deprivation

Acute and potentially life-threatening confusional condition derived from the abrupt cessation of alcohol consumption in people with alcohol dependence. It is one of the most serious and dangerous forms of withdrawal syndrome. Alterations in the level of consciousness, visual hallucinations, febrile states, seizures, stupor and emotional lability are frequent.

Neurodegenerative disorder, generally of biological origin, that presents with a progressive deterioration of different cognitive abilities such as memory, speech, movement sequencing or the ability to reasoning. It differs from delirium in the progressive deterioration in mental abilities and the absence of alterations in consciousness.

Mood disorder characterized by a sad and / or irritable mood, the presence of anhedonia and other symptoms such as hopelessness, feeling of helplessness, decreased attention span, and perception of reality from a negative perspective regarding the world, themselves and themselves future.

Derailment

Language pattern in which there is no common thread in the discourse. There is a loss of associations, building sentences unrelated to each other and putting them together without apparent meaning.

Depersonalization

Feeling of not being in one's own body, feeling one's body and mind as something strange.

Displacement

Defense mechanism based on the person projecting feelings and feelings into a given situation, stimulus or person reactions caused by other situations, stimuli or people, without there being a link between the two elements.

Derealization

Feeling of unreality with respect to what is experienced. Things, surroundings and / or situations are perceived as strange and unreal.

Presence of more or less severe limitations in interaction and adaptation to the environment due to presence of an intellectual capacity lower than that expected by age and level of maturational development of the subject.

Dyskinesia

Neurological disorder that generates involuntary and uncontrolled movements, generally in the facial muscles.

Dislalia

Speech disorder in which there are difficulties in the articulation of phonemes, generating substitutions of one phoneme for another, distortions, additions or even omissions.

Dysphemia

Also called stuttering, it refers to that speech fluency disorder in which the subject suffers a blockage in the form of a spasm that prevents or interrupts the formation of words. It is often accompanied by embarrassment and avoidance of public speaking.

Dissociation

Alteration of mental capacities that supposes a partial or total break between different aspects of the psyche, there being a separation between the integrated self and some of the different aspects or capacities of the mind. It is common in traumatic events. Specific examples can be dissociative amnesia or multiple personality disorder.

Dyspaurenia

Presence of pain during the sexual act, after it or even before it. It can cause an avoidance of not only sexual but also affective relationships

Mood disorder characterized by low positive affect and low energy level that occur continuously over time. A sad state of mind is maintained for at least two years on a practically daily basis, with the increase or loss of appetite, sleep problems, low self-esteem, and feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, albeit of less severity than normal depression.

Substance that, when introduced into the body, can alter one or more functions of the body. If we talk about psychoactive substances, drugs are characterized by producing alterations in brain function and can cause satisfactory sensations for the consumer, although prolonged consumption tends to make the body get used to them and generate tolerance.

AND

Cognitive psychologist of great importance worldwide. Creator of Rational Emotive Therapy, who considered that emotional states are generated by the interpretation of the phenomena that we live. For this reason, it is necessary to provoke a change in this interpretation if a change in the emotional state of the patient is to be achieved.

Ability to perceive, detect and share a person's state of mind and / or perspective, knowing how to put oneself in their place.

Phobia or intense and irrational fear of blushing in public and being noticed by others. Linked to the fear of being judged by others.

Pathological and irrational fear or phobia to appear in the workplace. It does not necessarily prevent the inability to maintain a job occupation, but it does hinder it. The causes can be multiple.

Perceptual excision

Disintegration and separation in different elements of aspects of the same stimulus, which are captured separately. For example, sound and image, or color and shape, are captured separately.

Psychotic-type disorder characterized by the presence of positive symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions and / or negatives such as impoverishment and alteration of language, difficulties in maintaining attention. One of the best known symptoms is the presence of generally auditory hallucinations. There are several subtypes.

Stereotypy

Performing certain movements, postures or emission of sounds in a repetitive or ritualized way without a specific purpose.

State of intense physiological activation that aims to act as a mechanism to face a threatening situation. If it is prolonged in time, it can generate fatigue and exhaustion due to the wear and tear caused by the continued use of energy resources both physically and mentally.

Stupor

State of altered consciousness from which it is very complex to get out, requiring a very powerful stimulation for it. It is usually accompanied by immobility and the absence of voluntary movement.

Euthymia

Emotional state considered normative, without great alterations and relatively stable.

Exhibitionism

Paraphilia characterized by the presence of persistent sexual fantasies and the performance of acts consisting of exhibiting the genitalia in public before strangers, being the observation of surprise or the reaction of others the reason for the excitement of the subject.

Exposition

Type of therapy that is based on the patient's confrontation with what he fears or causes anxiety, so that he is able to face it and progressively reduce the level of fear that cause. It is usually used based on a hierarchy according to what the patient is more or less anxious about, progressing more or less gradually.

Personality trait characterized by a focus on the outside world, with a tendency to relate to others and interact with the environment.

F

Tendency to the presence of recurrent sexual fantasies linked to the use of non-animated objects. That causes discomfort or deterioration in some vital area of ​​the subject that suffers it. It is a type of paraphilia.

Taste, preference or fondness for certain situations or stimuli, to which one tends to approach. It is considered the opposite of phobia.

Phobia of falling in love. Fear of bonding, in many cases derived from fear of abandonment or humiliation.

Irrational, disproportionate and high intensity fear of a specific stimulus or situation that provokes behavioral avoidance (or desire to avoid) the stimulus. The feared stimulus generates anxiety and anguish. The existence of a phobia can cause an alteration in the usual life of the individual who suffers from it.

Father of psychoanalysis. This Viennese doctor established psychoanalysis as a method of studying behavior, explaining the psyche and treating mental problems. He centered his theory on the presence of conflicts between different psychic structures and the repression of unconscious drives and instincts. He considered that the psyche was fundamentally driven by the sexual drive or libido, elaborating different theories regarding mental functioning and psychosexual development.

Frotteurism

Paraphilia characterized by the continued presence of fantasies and sexual impulses linked to the idea of ​​brushing with unknown people and against their will, impulses that have either been carried out or generate discomfort in the subject.

H

Hemineglect

Disorder caused by neurological alterations and injuries in which the affected person has severe difficulties or is unable to capture half of the hemifield, not being aware of part of his perception and not being able to orient, respond or act on the opposite side to that of the injury cerebral.

I

Delusion

Distorted perception or interpretation of an existing but ambiguous real stimulus.

Influence

Ability of a subject to alter the behavior or thinking of another.

Introversion

Personality trait characterized by a focus on the inner world and on one's own mental processes, requiring less activation from the environment.

L

Perception by the individual of the causality of the different phenomena that happen to him. The subject attributes successes and failures to different types of causes, these being stable or unstable, global or particular, internal or external. This attribution is linked to the attitude that each person takes towards different events and is even related to a great extent to self-concept and self-esteem.

Ability to guide and direct the behavior of other people towards a specific objective, being able to manage the actions of other people, setting objectives and motivating them towards their achievement.

Disorder characterized by the presence of uncontrolled impulse and the need to play different types of games of chance. The subject is unable to resist the impulse, using it as a method to combat discomfort and producing an addiction that alters the vital functioning of the subject and its environment.

M

Mania

Expansive and highly activated mood, with acceleration of thought and speech, high impulsivity that can lead to irritability and hostility. Characteristic of the consumption of certain substances or of disorders such as bipolar.

Modeling

Type of therapy based on delayed learning in which one or more subjects act as models recreating a situation determined, so that the patient observes how to perform certain actions or behaviors to later be able to carry them out. There are very different types of modeling depending on the type of model, the level of participation of the subject or the means used.

Molding

Method by which it is tried to achieve the establishment of a certain behavior through the realization of behaviors increasingly close to the desired one, establishing intermediate steps to achieve this that will be reinforced.

N

A type of cell that forms the basic unit of the nervous system, whose interconnection allows the transmission of electrochemical impulses through the body in order to be able to manage the different systems that configure.

Psychological trait that refers to the level of emotional stability or instability of an individual. Neurotic subjects have a labile emotionality, characterized by high levels of anxiety and tension and the rapid change from a positive emotional state to a negative one.

OR

Clouding

Altered state of consciousness in which it is difficult to capture the individual's attention, being continuously distracted and there may be perceptual alterations. Subject is disoriented and confused if pulled out of this state.

Repetitive and uncontrolled thinking that appears spontaneously in the mind and proceeds to repeat itself insistently, being perceived as inappropriate and highly distressing. This thought is experienced as one's own despite not being controlled, and it is usually tried to avoid itself through various mechanisms. It is the main core of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

P

Paraphilia

Presence of persistent fantasies of an arousal nature towards atypical objects of desire that usually include non-human subjects or not consent, objects, or pain, that cause discomfort and suffering and affect the normal functioning of the person who suffers or of third parties.

Perceptual phenomenon through which the person perceives a pattern or shape recognizable to an ambiguous stimulus or poorly defined, such as shapes in clouds or perceiving the shape of a face in smoke or patches on a Wall. This is not something pathological.

Subtype of paraphilia in which the object of sexual attraction of a subject is a minor boy or girl, the subject being at least sixteen years of age and being at least five years older than the object of wishes.

Defense mechanism in which the subject identifies his own characteristics in other individuals, groups, objects or entities.

Pseudocyesis

Also known as a psychological pregnancy. It is a type of dissociative disorder that causes the symptoms of a pregnancy without actually occurring.

Symbol commonly related to psychology.

Psychoanaleptic

Substance with activating psychoactive effects, which cause an increase or acceleration of the nervous system.

Paradigm of psychology focused on the unconscious and on the existence of conflicts between instincts and their external expression. It focuses largely on the deep part of the psyche and its analysis, working with symbolic elements. Likewise, it also focuses on the past experiences of patients, especially those that have occurred throughout development. Psychoanalysis is considered a theoretical framework, a research technique, and a therapeutic method.

Psycho-dysleptic

Substance with psychoactive effects that generates an alteration in the functioning of the nervous system, producing different consequences and can alter perception.

Psychogenic

It refers to something whose origin or cause is psychological and not organic.

Psycholeptic

A type of depressant substance, which causes a slowdown or decrease in the activity of the nervous system.

Individual characterized by lack of empathy, superficial charm, low responsibility and cordiality, and difficulties in establishing long-term goals, giving priority to the immediate satisfaction of their own needs, even if it is at the expense of the the rest. They tend to have a low level of obedience to authority and exhibit antisocial behaviors.

Type of disorder characterized by the presence of a rupture or imbalance of the psyche with the reality, observing unusual behaviors and being frequent the presence of hallucinations and delusions.

R

Level of attunement between two or more people, generally referring to the relationship between patient and therapist. Rapport needs to be positive in order to establish a good therapeutic relationship.

Characteristic of the person consistent through different situations and that remains stable over time. It is an element that allows establishing a tendency to be, see the world or act in a certain way.

Regression

Concept of psychoanalytic origin that refers to the return to a previous phase of development as a defense mechanism against stressful events.

Repression

Main defense mechanism, consisting of the eradication of mental contents that are unacceptable for the subject.

Ability to cope with traumatic situations in an adaptive way, coming out of these situations strengthened.

Role

Role or function assigned to a person in a given situation. It assumes a series of expectations regarding the conduct of the person to whom the role in question has been assigned.

S

Paraphilia characterized by the excitement or obtaining pleasure from causing pain or humiliation to another person.

Sign

Element directly observable to an external observer. It is an objective element that can serve as a reliable indicator of the existence of a disorder or problem.

Interconnection point between two or more neurons. It is an intermediate space in which the emission and reuptake of the various neurotransmitters take place.

Agglutination of sensations of different modalities in the same perception. Two types of perceptions are fused and jointly perceived. Before a sound it is possible to perceive a color or before an image hear a sound, for example.

Symptom

Sign or indication of a subjective nature of an abnormal or pathological state. It must be referred by the subject himself to be detected, as it is not directly observable.

Positive symptoms

Type of symptoms that add to the normal functioning of the subject. Examples of this may be hallucinations, delusions, or disorganized behavior. Typical of schizophrenia and psychotic disorders.

Negative symptoms

Set of symptoms that cause a decrease in the habitual capacities already existing in a subject. For example, affective dullness or praise. They tend to have a worse response to treatment than positive symptoms and can cause long-term deterioration.

Unconscious and involuntary process by which a subject manifests physical and physiological psychological problems.

T

Tachypsychia

Thought acceleration. It often leads to the inability to follow a train of thought to its conclusion.

Sleep disorder that occurs during the fourth phase of non-REM sleep, specifically in the deep sleep phase. It is a dreamlike projection that causes a deep sense of dread in the subject, the subject being able to sit up, scream or shake. During this episode the subject may be difficult to awaken. After the episode, the person has no memory of what happened.

Process by which a patient projects a set of feelings, emotions, and reactions about his therapist, which involve the evocation of previous links that lead to a new object.

W

Founder of experimental psychology, creator of the first psychology laboratory and father of psychology as a science (before him it was considered part of philosophy). He founded structuralism. In the early days he studied sensations and aspects such as the speed of reaction to stimuli. He considered that he should differentiate between the objective and the subjective of behavior, having a great importance for him the introspection capacity to analyze subjective processes.

Z

Paraphilia consisting of sexual attraction to non-human animals, occurring consistently and continuously over time and this attraction may or may not be consummated.

Bibliographic references:

• Myers, David G. (2005). Psychology. Mexico: Pan-American Medical.
• Triglia, Adrián; Regader, Bertrand; Garcia-Allen, Jonathan. (2016). Psychologically speaking. Paidos.
• Tubert, Silvia. (2000). Sigmund Freud: Foundations of psychoanalysis. Argentina: EDAF.