PSY266 - Abnormal Psychology - Sada

from The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology

1
In statistics, a relationship between two (or more) variables such that systematic increases or decreases in the magnitude of one variable are accompanied by systematic increases or decreases in the magnitude of the other(s). The existence of such a statistical relationship is traditionally used as a basis for making predictions about the expected magnitude of one variable given the known magnitude of the other(s). The stronger the relationship (i.e. the further from zero the obtained correlation coefficient), the greater the confidence in the accuracy of prediction.

2
Somewhat more loosely, any relationship between things such that some concomitant or dependent changes in one (or more) occur with changes in the other(s). Note that in both of these usages one properly withholds the presumption of causality between the variables. Correlations are statements about concomitance; they may suggest, but do not necessarily imply, that the changes in one variable are producing or causing the changes in the other(s).

3
In physiology, the overall processes by which the various bodily processes occur in coordinated relation to each other. Distinguish from NEUROLOGICAL *CORRELATION.

Penguin Copyright © Arthur S. Reber, Rhiannon Allen and Emily S. Reber, 2009

from The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology

Modern scientific psychology prides itself (perhaps a bit self-consciously) on being experimental. The intent here is to let it be known that psychological principles are founded on well-controlled and repeatable experiments. In essence, any experiment is an arrangement of conditions or procedures for the purpose of testing some hypothesis. The design of an experiment focuses on: (a) the antecedent conditions themselves, usually referred to as the INDEPENDENT *VARIABLES (or treatments or experimental variables), and (b) the outcome or results of the experiment, usually called the DEPENDENT *VARIABLES. The critical aspect of any experiment is that there be control over the independent variables such that cause-and-effect relationships can be discovered without ambiguity.

There is a tendency to use the adjectival form experimental in a broader and looser sense to cover casual observations or simple trial procedures that are not always well controlled. This usage is not wrong in any etymological sense, although it should be avoided for it detracts from the rigorous meaning. See also CONTROL (1), EXPERIMENTAL *DESIGN, SCIENTIFIC *METHOD.

Penguin Copyright © Arthur S. Reber, Rhiannon Allen and Emily S. Reber, 2009

from The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology

An account of a single individual in which a detailed record is compiled including personal history, background, test results, interviews and the like. Research using case studies is common when other approaches are not possible, as when an unusual psychiatric case is presented or when a unique or rare type of brain injury occurs. See, for example, ANNA O. and HM.

Penguin Copyright © Arthur S. Reber, Rhiannon Allen and Emily S. Reber, 2009

from The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology
One of the, if not the, most widely used self-report inventories for the assessment of personality. Published in 1942, the first version consisted of a basic set of 550 items, each of which was a descriptive statement about characteristic feelings or behaviours with which the subject indicated either agreement or disagreement. It was originally developed as a clinical diagnostic tool and had eight scales built into it, designed to assess most of the (then) commonly accepted clinical syndromes. Although the MMPI did not prove to be the objective clinical assessment device its developers had hoped for, it turned out to be extremely useful in research into social/personality issues. Indeed, there are currently over 200 separate scales measuring such traits and qualities as anxiety, ego strength, masculinity/femininity and internality/externality that have been developed from the original MMPI item pool.

In response to criticisms concerning many antiquated items, as well as possible biases in the item pool and measurement scales, the inventory was updated in the late 1980s and the scoring system was revised to reflect the results from a large, representative sample of Americans. The revised version, known as the MMPI-2, contains 567 items, each of which is a statement about oneself which must be answered as true, false or cannot say. There are now 15 content scales that are related to a variety of psychological problems such as anxiety, depression, anger, social discomfort and family problems. In the early 1990s a new version was developed specifically for adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18 (the MMPI-A). It contains items designed to identify social and behavioural problems relating to family matters, eating disorders, drug dependencies, emotional difficulties and other issues common to this age group.

Penguin Copyright © Arthur S. Reber, Rhiannon Allen and Emily S. Reber, 2009

from Piotrowski, N. A. (2010). Psychology & Mental Health. Salem Press.

from The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology

A brief neurologically oriented assessment used as a screener to determine whether someone is cognitively intact.