Glossary G3
and social factors make a person vulnerable
to a variety of problematic behaviors,
including substance abuse and dependence;
also called problem behavior theory.
Communication disorders A set of
psychological disorders characterized by
signifi cant problems in understanding
language or using language to express oneself.
Community care Programs that allow
mental health care providers to visit
patients in their homes at any time of
the day or night; also known as assertive
community treatment.
Comorbidity The presence of more than one
disorder at the same time in a given patient.
Competency to stand trial The mental state
during the time leading up to the trial that
enables a defendant to participate in his or
her own defense.
Complex inheritance The transmission of
traits that are expressed along a continuum
by the interaction of sets of genes.
Compulsions Repetitive behaviors or
mental acts that a person feels driven to
carry out and that usually correspond
thematically to an obsession.
Computerized axial tomography (CT) A
neuroimaging technique that uses X-rays
to build a three-dimensional image (CT or
CAT scan) of the brain.
Concordance rate The probability that both
twins will have a characteristic or disorder,
given that one of them has it.
Conditioned emotional responses Emotions
and emotion-related behaviors that are
classically conditioned.
Conditioned response (CR) A response that
comes to be elicited by the previously
neutral stimulus that has become a
conditioned stimulus.
Conditioned stimulus (CS) A neutral
stimulus that, when paired with an
unconditioned stimulus, comes to elicit the
refl exive behavior.
Conduct disorder A psychological
disorder that typically arises in
childhood and is characterized by the
violation of the basic rights of others or
of societal norms that are appropriate to
the individual’s age.
Confabulate To create stories in order to fi ll
in gaps in memory.
Confi dentiality The ethical requirement not
to disclose information about a patient
(even whether someone is a patient) to
others unless legally compelled to do so.
Confounding variables (confounds) Factors
that might inadvertently affect the
variables of interest in an experiment.
Contingency management A procedure for
modifying behavior by changing the
conditions that led to, or are produced by, it.
Control group A group of participants in
an experiment for which the independent
variable is not manipulated, but which
is otherwise treated identically to the
experimental group.
Conversion disorder A somatoform disorder
that involves sensory or motor symptoms
that do not correspond to symptoms that
arise from known medical conditions.
Correlation The relationship between the
measurements made of two variables in
which a change in the value of one variable
is associated with a change in the value of
the other variable.
Correlation coeffi cient A number that
quantifi es the strength of the correlation
between two variables; the correlation
coeffi cient is most typically symbolized by r.
Counseling psychologist A mental health
professional who has either a Ph.D. degree
from a psychology program that focuses
on counseling or an Ed.D. degree from a
school of education.
Criminal commitment The involuntary
commitment to a mental health facility of
a person charged with a crime.
Criminally responsible The determination
that a defendant’s crime was the product
of both an action or attempted action (the
alleged criminal behavior) and his or her
intentionto perform that action.
Crystallized intelligence A type of
intelligence that relies on using
knowledge to reason; such knowledge has
“crystallized” from previous experience.
Culture The shared norms and values of
a society that are explicitly and implicitly
conveyed to its members by example
and through the use of reward and
punishment.
Cybertherapy Internet-based therapy.
Cyclothymic disorder A mood disorder
characterized by chronic, fl uctuating
mood disturbance with numerous periods
of hypomanic symptoms and numerous
periods of depressive symptoms that do
not meet the criteria for an MDE.° D °
Dangerousness The legal term that refers to
someone’s potential to harm self or others.Data Methodical observations, which
include numerical measurements of
phenomena.
Defense mechanisms Unconscious processes
that work to transform psychological
confl ict so as to prevent unacceptable
thoughts and drives from reaching
consciousness.
Delirium A cognitive disorder characterized
by a disturbance in consciousness
and changes in cognitive functioning,
particularly in attention.
Delirium tremens (DTs) The symptoms of
alcohol withdrawal marked by confusion,
convulsions, visual hallucinations, and
fever.Delusional disorder The psychotic
disorder characterized by the presence of
nonbizarre but demonstrably incorrect
beliefs that have persisted for more than
1 month.
Delusions Persistent false beliefs that are
held despite evidence that the beliefs are
incorrect or exaggerate reality.
Dementia A set of cognitive disorders
characterized by defi cits in learning new
information or recalling information
already learned plus at least one other type
of cognitive impairment.
Dementia due to Lewy bodies A type of
progressive dementia caused by a type of
protein (referred to as Lewy bodies) that
builds up inside some types of neurons and
can eventually cause them to die.
Dependent personality disorder A
personality disorder characterized by
submissive and clingy behaviors, based on
fear of separation.
Dependent variable A variable that is
measured and that may change its values
as a result of manipulating the independent
variable.
Depersonalization A dissociative symptom
in which the perception or experience of
self—either one’s body or one’s mental
processes—is altered to the point of feeling
like an observer, as though seeing oneself
from the “outside.”
Depersonalization disorder A dissociative
disorder whose primary symptom is a
persistent feeling of being detached from
one’s mental processes or body, although
people who have this disorder may also
experience derealization.
Derealization A dissociative symptom in
which the external world is perceived or
experienced as strange or unreal.