Front | Back |
ABCDE model
|
REBT model of how psychological problems originate and how to fix them; A = activating event; B = beliefs; C = emotional consequences of beliefs; D = disputing beliefs; and E = more effective beliefs that replace those that were disputed.
|
Action potential
|
Triggers the sending of an electrical impulse along a neuron’s axis; occurs when sufficient neurotransmitters bond with receptors on a neuron’s dendrites, causing the electrical charge within the neuron to shift from negative to positive; central process in neural communication.
|
Actualizing tendency
|
In humanistic theories, the innate motivation to fulfill one’s full potential.
|
Allele
|
Name for each of the two different versions of every gene; dominant alleles take priority in influencing how particular characteristics genetically unfold, while recessive alleles only influence development when a person inherits two of them (one from each parent).
|
Amino acids
|
Chemical compounds consisting of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen; GABA and glutamate are amino acid-based neurotransmitters.
|
Amygdala
|
Almond-sized area deep in the limbic system area of the brain that has been implicated in regulation of emotions such as fear and anger.
|
Anal-expulsive
|
Fixated anal stage personality style characterized by resisting the need for ego regulation; anal-expulsive individuals are messy, reckless, disobedient, and disorganized.
|
Anal-retentive
|
Fixated anal stage personality style characterized by strict ego regulation; anal-retentive individuals are rigid, neat, stingy, stubborn, and highly organized.
|
Anal stage
|
Second stage of psychosexual development, from ages 1½ to 3, during which toilet training serves as the basis for ego development; fixation here results in becoming anal-retentive or anal-expulsive.
|
Assimilative integration
|
Process by which therapists operating from one theoretical perspective, when incorporating a technique from another theoretical perspective, carefully consider how the theory they are using and the theory from which they are co-opting a technique are both changed.
|
Attachment theory
|
Emphasizes how early childhood relational attachments affect later psychological functioning.
|
Authenticity
|
In existential theory, when one is aware of one’s responsibility for creating meaning and living by it.
|
Automatic thoughts
|
Spontaneous thoughts that occur to us throughout daily life.
|
Awfulizing
|
REBT term for the irrational tendency to interpret things as more awful than they truly are.
|
Behavior therapy
|
Applies the principles of classical and operant conditioning, as well as social learning, to alter behavior deemed abnormal.
|