Psychology 2030A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Doctor Of Psychology, Doctor Of Education, Psych

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2030A/B
• Professor: Prof

Document Summary

A psychological disorder is a psychological dysfunction within an individual that is associated with distress or impairment in functioning and a response that is not typically or culturally expected. A phobia is a psychological disorder characterized by marked and persistent fear of an object or situation. 3 categories to a psychological disorder: psychological dysfunction, personal distress, and atypical or not culturally expected: psychological dysfunction: Psychological dysfunction refers to a breakdown in cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning. Many people experience mild versions of reactions consistent with phobias without meeting the criteria for the disorder; knowing where to draw the line between normal and abnormal dysfunction is often difficult. For this reason, these problems are often considered to exist on a continuum or as a dimension, rather than as categories that are either present or absent. Definition of continuum: a continuous sequence in which adjacent elements are not perceptibly different from each other, although the extremes are quite distinct.