EPPP Part 2 Skills flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

GABA-A receptor

Ligand-gated chloride channel that mediates most fast inhibitory neurotransmission in the brain; benzodiazepines and barbiturates bind allosteric sites to increase chloride current and reduce neuronal excitability.

Half-life to steady state

Steady-state plasma concentration is reached after roughly four to five elimination half-lives of regular dosing; the same interval approximates the washout period after discontinuation.

Hippocampal negative feedback

Circulating cortisol binds hippocampal glucocorticoid receptors and inhibits CRH and ACTH release, dampening the stress axis; chronic stress can impair this feedback and reduce hippocampal volume.

Conduction aphasia

A language disorder in which spontaneous speech is fluent and comprehension is largely preserved, but repetition is markedly impaired, typically from a lesion of the arcuate fasciculus.

Extinction as new learning

Extinction does not erase a conditioned association; it creates a competing inhibitory memory, which is why spontaneous recovery, renewal, and reinstatement of the original response can occur.

Variable-ratio schedule

A reinforcement schedule in which a response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses; it typically produces high, steady response rates and strong resistance to extinction.

Encoding specificity principle

Retrieval is most effective when the cues and context present at recall overlap with those encoded during learning, explaining context-dependent and state-dependent memory effects.

Mood-congruent memory

A bias in which people more readily encode and retrieve information whose emotional tone matches their current mood, commonly observed in depressive and manic states.

Group polarization

After discussion, a group's prevailing initial tendency becomes more extreme, because persuasive arguments and social comparison push members toward the already favored position.

Diffusion of responsibility

A reduction in felt personal obligation to act that grows as the number of bystanders increases, contributing to the bystander effect in emergencies.

Measurement invariance

The statistical condition in which a measure assesses the same construct in the same metric across groups; configural, metric, and scalar levels must hold before comparing group means.

Stereotype threat

Apprehension that one's performance may confirm a negative stereotype about one's group, which consumes working memory and can depress performance on relevant tasks.

Goodness of fit

The match between a child's temperament and the demands and expectations of the caregiving environment; better fit predicts more adaptive developmental outcomes than temperament alone.

Disorganized attachment

A Strange Situation classification marked by contradictory, freezing, or apprehensive behavior toward the caregiver on reunion, often associated with frightening or maltreating caregiving.

Fluid versus crystallized

Fluid ability involves novel reasoning and processing speed and declines earlier in aging; crystallized ability involves accumulated knowledge and vocabulary and holds or grows with age.

Authoritative parenting

A style combining high warmth and responsiveness with high, reasoned demandingness; it is associated with the most favorable child outcomes across academic and social domains.

Standard error of measurement

An index of the expected variability of a person's observed score around their true score, computed as the standard deviation times the square root of one minus reliability.

Positive predictive value

The probability that a person with a positive test result truly has the disorder; it rises with prevalence, so rare disorders yield low values even for accurate tests.

Incremental validity

The degree to which a measure improves prediction or decision accuracy beyond information already available from existing measures, interviews, or base rates.

Delirium versus dementia

Delirium has acute onset with fluctuating attention and awareness and usually a medical cause; dementia is progressive and typically begins with memory decline in clear consciousness.

Inhibitory learning model

An account of exposure therapy holding that outcome is driven by violating expectancies and building new safety associations, rather than by fear reduction within a session.

Indicated prevention

Prevention aimed at individuals who show subclinical symptoms or risk markers for a disorder but do not yet meet diagnostic criteria, to avert full onset.

Motivational interviewing

A collaborative, person-centered counseling style that evokes and strengthens the client's own motivation and commitment to change by supporting autonomy and exploring ambivalence.

Vicarious liability

Legal responsibility a supervisor may bear for the professional actions of a trainee or supervisee performed within the supervisory relationship, even absent direct involvement.

Statistical power

The probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is false, equal to one minus beta; it increases with sample size, effect size, and lower measurement variability.

Attenuation due to unreliability

When either variable in a correlation is measured with error, the observed correlation is smaller in magnitude than the true correlation between the underlying constructs.

Internal versus external validity

Internal validity is the soundness of causal inference within a study; external validity is the generalizability of findings to other people, settings, and times.

Mediation versus moderation

Mediation tests whether an effect operates through an intervening variable; moderation tests whether the strength or direction of an effect differs across levels of another variable.

Tarasoff duty

A legal duty, arising from case law in many jurisdictions, to take reasonable steps to protect an identifiable third party from a client's serious threat of violence.

Mandated reporting threshold

Clinicians must report suspected child or elder abuse based on reasonable suspicion rather than proof; they are not required to investigate or confirm the allegation before reporting.

Privilege versus confidentiality

Confidentiality is an ethical duty not to disclose; privilege is a legal protection held by the client against compelled disclosure in legal proceedings, which the client may waive.

Multiple relationship risk

A second relationship with a client is not automatically unethical, but risk rises when it could impair objectivity, exploit power differences, or harm the client, requiring documentation and consultation.