Author: Glossary

A person who holds a degree in psychology from an accredited program. Providers of psychological services are licensed under applicable state law, whereas those psychologists who teach or do research are usually exempt from licensure requirements. A nonmedical specialty concerned with psychological testing, evaluation, and diagnosis of emotional problems. A person who specialises in the…

Assessments that measure characteristics, abilities, and skills related to mental functioning. Devices for assessing aspects of mental and emotional functioning. Psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health workers use psychological tests to learn information that may not emerge from interviewing or observing people and to compare them with others. The more than 500 tests in current…

The study of mental factors that affect communication and the comprehension of verbal information. The study of linguistics as it relates to human behavior.  

The study of the connection between the brain and emotions and the immune system. A field of study focusing on how the stresses of life affect the immune system.  

An approach to history that examines events within a psychological framework.  

Production or causation of a symptom or illness by mental or psychic factors as opposed to organic ones. The development from psychological origins as distinguished from somatic origins. The origin and development of mind; the formation of mental traits. The growth of mental traits.  

The study of the psychological effects of neuroendocrinological activity. For example, it is known that the release and inhibition of pituitary hormones are mediated in part by brain monoamines, disorders of which have been implicated in the pathogenesis of various psychiatric illnesses. The study of the relationship between psychological processes and endocrine function.  

The systematized knowledge and theory of human behavior and its motivation, the study of which depends largely on the functional significance of emotion. Psychodynamics recognizes the role of unconscious motivation in human behavior. The science of psychodynamics assumes that one’s behavior is determined by past experience, genetic endowment, and current reality. In psychoanalytic theory relating…

A form of therapy whose goal is to provide greater insights into unconscious conflicts and other sources of signs and symptoms which lead to changes in emotional, cognitive, and behavioral problems. Psychodynamic treatments are among the most widely used psychotherapies, and many of the principles of psychodynamic therapy have been incorporated into other therapeutic approaches.…