Psychology Glossary - P

Home > Help Centre > Psychology Glossary > P

Panic Attacks:

Involves repeated, unpredictable attacks of intense fear accompanied by severe anxiety symptoms in the body that may last from minutes to hours.

Personality:

The set of habitual attitudes and styles of interacting with people and the world around us which the child acquires as part of its development.

Pessimist:

A person who expects the worst.

Pessimistic:

Expecting the worst in this worst of all possible worlds.

Phenomenon:

Any state or process known through the senses rather than by intuition or reasoning

Phobias:

Anxiety disorders characterized by extreme and irrational fear of simple things or social situations.

Post traumatic stress disorder:

A common anxiety disorder that develops after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened.

Psychoanalysis:

Is the original type of psychotherapy, but many other theories and techniques are used by psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers.

Psychobiology:

The study of the interrelationships of the biology and psychology in cognitive functioning, including intellectual, memory, and related neurocognitive processes.

Psychology:

Is generally defined as the science of behavior and mental processes and the application of the resulting findings to the solution of problems. The word thus simultaneously refers to a science (involving the study of the behavior of humans and animals) and to various interventions (treatments and therapies) in the mental processes and behavioral patterns of people.

Psychopath:

Former term for a person with antisocial personality disorder.

Psychopathic:

Pertaining to psychopathy, particularly to antisocial behavior or antisocial personality disorder.

Psychopathology:

In Freudian analysis, a method for gaining insight by analyzing the significance of and underlying motivation for the verbal slips made by patients in conversation.

Psychotherapy:

Is a set of techniques for curing or helping to solve behavioral problems of humans. The common part of these techniques is direct personal contact between therapist and patient.

Psychosomatics:

In clinical psychology, the application of psychological research and theories not only to mental health problems but also to physical health problems, by extending the study of clinical problems to primary-care and general hospital settings.