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Psych- words: “psychoasthenics” to “psychogenic”,
Part 4 of 7

Words that include: psych-, psycho-, -psyche, -psychic,
-psychical, -psychically
(Greek: mind, spirit, consciousness; mental processes;
the human soul; breath of life)

A prefix that is normally used with elements of Greek origin, psych- affects the meanings of hundreds of words.

Etymologically, this element includes such meanings as, breath, to breathe, life, soul, spirit, mind, consciousness; and literally, "that which breathes".



psychoasthenics:
The study of mental retardation.
psychoataxia:
1. The dissociation between affect (reaction to a stimulus) and intellect; the separating of the emotions from other mental phenomena. It is considered characteristic of schizophrenia; also intrapsychic ataxia.
2. The separatiion of ideas and affect (external stimulus) seen in schizophrenic disorders; the inappropriateness of affect (reactions to stimuli, including feelings, emotions, and moods).
psychoauditory:
1. Relating to the mental perception and interpretation of sounds.
2. Relating to the conscious perception of the attributes and qualities of the sound heard; also called psychauditory.
psychobabble:
Writing or talking by using jargon from psychiatry or psychotherapy without any particular accuracy or relevance. Popularized by a book of the same title (1977) by U.S. journalist Richard D. Rosen.
psychobiography, psychobiographer:
A biographical study focusing on psychological factors, as childhood traumas and unconscious motives.
psychobiology, psychobiologic, psychobiological:
1. The study of psychology from a biological point of view (including the anatomy, physiology, and pathology of the mind) emphasizing the adaptive or functional aspects of behavior that enable the organism to meet survival challenges that are posed by the environment; synonym: biopsychology.
2. A method of psychoanalysis employing distributive analysis, that includes a study of all mental and physical factors involved in an individual's growth and development.
3. Objective psychobiology involves a special emphasis on the various relationships of the individual to his or her environment.
4. The branch of biology dealing with the relations or interactions between body and behavior, especially as exhibited in the nervous system, receptors, effectors, or the like.
psychocentric:
Focused on the subjective, mental self as the major determinant of personality and mental activity rather than on the cerebral, neurophysiological elements.
psychochemistry:
The application of biochemistry to psychiatry and especially to the understanding of the neurochemical patterns that may be a fundamental part of at least some psychiatric disorders.
psychochrome:
1. Any subjective physical or mental sensation that is regularly associated with a particular color.
2. Color impressions resulting from sensory stimulations of a part of the body other than by the eyes.
psychochromesthesia:
1. Color sensation produced by the stimulus of a sense organ other than that of vision. Also pseudochromesthesia, a condition in which sounds, especially of the vowels, seem to induce a sensation of a distinct visual color.
2. A form of synesthesia in which a certain stimulus to one of the special organs of sense produces the mental image of a color.
psychochronometry:
The study of mental processes in relation to their timing and duration.
psychocoma:
A condition in which a person is in a state of mental stupor.
psychocortical:
A reference to the cerebral cortex as the seat of sensory, motor, and psychic functions.
psychodiagnosis:
1. Any method used to discover the factors which underlie behavior, especially malajusted or abnormal behavior.
2. The use of psychological tests to assist in diagnosing diseases, especially mental illness.
3. The evaluation of the personality of an individual by a systematic appraisal made of spontaneously expressed and specially elicited reactions, most often undertaken for the purpose of assessing any serious unbalance in the personality or to predict possible future reactions to severe stress or threat to the organization of the personality.
psychodiagnostics:
1. The use of psychological testing as an aid in diagnosing mental disorders.
2. The observation and interpretation of externally observable actions of an individual, such as voice inflection, gestures, and body posture for the purpose of drawing inferences about the personality of that person.
3. A term used especially by Swiss and German writers for Rorschach Test.
psychodometry:
A measurement of the speed of mental action.
psychodrama:
A form of group psychotherapy. Patients act out assigned roles and, in so doing, are able to gain insight into their own mental dissturbances.
psychodynamics:
1. The scientific study of mental action or force.
2. The description of the development and workings of the mind, with emphasis on how the mind's hypothesized energies are distributed in the course of its adaptational maneuvers.
psychodysleptic:
Inducing a dreamlike or delusional mental state; hallucinatory.
psychoendocrinology:
The study of the relationship of the endocrine system to psychiatric disorders, in particular the system's potential as a site of manifestation of biochemical abnormalities that have been implicated as predisposing factors to mental illness, as in thyrotoxiocosis (hyperthyroidism condition) or the Cushing syndrome (syndrome resulting from hypersecretion of the adrenal cortex that results in glucocorticoids).
psychogalvanic:
Referring to changes in the electrical resistance of the skin that result from either sensory or ideational stimulation (ideation is the process of forming ideas or mental images and examining their relationships).
psychogalvanometer:
1. A device for determining changes in the electrical resistance of the skin in response to emotional stimuli.
2. Any electrical circuit designed to measure the psychogalvanic response. The reading of the degree of change in skin resistance, that is, changes in sweat gland secretion, detected by a sensitive galvanometer may be made directly and visually, or a permanent registration of the psychogalvanic response can be made by means of an ink trace or photographic recording.
psychogenesis, psychogeny:
1. The origin and development of the mind; the formation of mental traits.
2. Origin within the mind or psyche.
psychogenetic:
1. Originating in the mind, as a disease.
2. Concernng formation of mental traits.
psychogenic:
1. Of mental origin.
2. Concerning the development of the mind.