Author: Glossary

A faulty act, blunder, or lapse of memory such as a slip of the tongue or misplacement of an article. According to freud, these acts are caused by unconscious motives.  

One of the major groups of sexual disorders; in dsm-ivtr, this group includes exhibitionism, fetishism, frotteurism, pedophilia, sexual masochism, sexual sadism, transvestic fetishism, voyeurism, and paraphilia not otherwise specified (including klismaphilia and necrophilia). The paraphilias (also called perversions or sexual deviations) are recurrent, intense sexual urges and sexually arousing fantasies that involve nonhuman objects, children…

A notable feature of aphasia in which one loses the ability to speak correctly, substitutes one word for another, and changes words and sentences in an inappropriate way. Three types of paraphasia have been described: a) Literal/Phonological Paraphasia: More than half of the intended word is produced correctly. For example, a patient may say “pun”…

Suspiciousness or a nondelusional belief that one is being harassed, persecuted, or unfairly treated.  

A lay term commonly used to describe an overly suspicious person. The technical use of the term refers to persons with paranoid ideation or to a type of schizophrenia or a class of disorders. Pervasive and long-standing suspiciousness and mistrust of others; hypersensitivity and scanning of the environment for clues that selectively validate prejudices, attitudes,…

A condition characterized by the gradual development of an intricate, complex, and elaborate system of thinking based on (and often proceeding logically from) misinterpretation of an actual event; it may meet criteria for a type of delusional disorder. Despite its often chronic course, this condition does not seem to interfere with other aspects of thinking…

Distortion of memory with confusion of fact and fantasy. A false memory in which the person recalls events that did not occur. A disorder of the memory in which someone remembers events which have not happened. A derangement of the memory in which words are used without a comprehension of their meaning; the term is…

A gray matter cortical region of the brain that surrounds the hippocampus. This region plays an important role in memory encoding and retrieval. A gyrus on the lower surface of each cerebral hemisphere between the hippocampal and collateral sulci.  

A technique used in behavior therapy in which individuals are encouraged to engage in whatever behavior they are trying to stop. For example, a person with compulsive hand washing might be instructed to wash even more frequently.