mental set
(noun)
An unconscious tendency to approach a problem in a particular way.
Examples of mental set in the following topics:
-
Defining Decision Making
- Decision making is the mental process of selecting a course of action from a set of alternatives.
- Decision making is the mental process of choosing from a set of alternatives.
- Since doing nothing or remaining neutral is usually among the set of options one chooses from, selecting that course is also making a decision.
- A major part of decision making involves the analysis of a defined set of alternatives against selection criteria.
-
Institutionalized Children
- It has also been argued that institutionalized individuals become psychologically more prone to mental health problems.
- Juvenile wards are sections of psychiatric hospitals or psychiatric wards set aside for children and/or adolescents with mental illness.
- Deinstitutionalization is the process of replacing long-stay psychiatric hospitals with less isolated community mental health service for those diagnosed with a mental disorder or developmental disability.
- Deinstitutionalization can have multiple definitions; the first focuses on reducing the population size of mental institutions.
- Many state hospitals have mental health branches, such as the Northern Michigan Asylum.
-
Psychological Pricing
- Psychology is an academic and applied discipline that involves the scientific study of mental functions and behaviors.
- While psychological knowledge is often applied to the assessment and treatment of mental health problems, it is also directed towards understanding and solving problems in many different spheres of human activity.
- The majority of psychologists are involved in some kind of therapeutic role, practicing in clinical, counseling, or school settings.
- Many do scientific research on a wide range of topics related to mental processes and behavior, and typically work in university psychology departments or teach in other academic settings (e.g., medical schools or hospitals).
- Some are employed in industrial and organizational settings, or in other areas such as human development and aging, sports, health, and the media, as well as in forensic investigation and other aspects of law.
-
The Labeling Approach
- Hard labeling refers to those who argue that mental illness does not exist; it is merely deviance from the norms of society that cause people to believe in mental illness.
- Labeling theory was first applied to the term "mentally ill" in 1966 when Thomas J.
- Scheff published Being Mentally Ill.
- Scheff challenged common perceptions of mental illness by claiming that mental illness is manifested solely as a result of societal influence.
- If one believes that being "mentally ill" is more than just believing one should fulfill a set of diagnostic criteria, then one would probably also agree that there are some who are labeled "mentally ill" who need help.
-
Defining "Normal" and "Abnormal"
- An individual with mental illness may avoid social settings altogether; for example, an individual struggling with depression may choose not to see or speak with friends and family for fear of "bringing them down" or "being a burden."
- Distorted perception of the incidence of mental illness.
- Although approximately one in three people will experience mental illness at some point in their life, there are still many people who do not acknowledge mental illness as a public health concern.
- This means that mental illness seems far less common than it actually is.
- The National Alliance on Mental Illness aims to reduce societal stigma and shaming of various mental illnesses.
-
Comparative Psychology
- Comparative psychology is the scientific study of animal behavior and mental processes, which can lead to a deeper and broader understanding of human psychology.
- Darwin's theory led to several hypotheses, one being that the factors that set humans apart—such as higher mental, moral, and spiritual faculties—could be accounted for by evolutionary principles.
- George John Romanes was also highly influential in the development of comparative psychology; following Darwin's work, he set out to prove that animals had a “rudimentary human mind.”
- The field examines such things as individual behavior, interaction with the environment, reproduction, grooming and hygiene, how different life forms learn, forms of motivation, and mental capacities.
- A wide variety of species have been studied by comparative psychologists in order to gain insight into the behavior and mental processes of nonhuman animals.
-
Defining Psychology
- Psychology is the scientific study of human mental processes and behavior.
- This field ultimately aims to benefit society, partly through its focus on better understanding of mental health and mental illness.
- Clinical psychology focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders and mental illness.
- Researchers and other non-clinical psychologists often work in university psychology departments or teach in other academic settings (e.g., medical schools or hospitals).
- Some are employed in industrial and organizational settings, in health-care settings, in the media, in sports, or in forensic investigation and other law-related fields.
-
The Experience of Illness
- Mental illness contains a diverse factors that contribute to the health of the mind.
- The recognition and understanding of mental health conditions have changed over time and across cultures.
- Evolutionary medicine calls this set of responses "sickness behavior. "
- Mental illness is a broad category of illnesses that may include affective or emotional instability, behavioral dysregulation, and/or cognitive dysfunction or impairment.
- Statistics show that more and more people are being diagnosed with mental disorders.
-
Mental Health
- Mental health describes a level of psychological well-being or the presence/absence of a mental disorder.
- Members of different social classes often hold different views on mental health.
- Similarly, different social classes have different levels of access to mental health interventions and to information about mental health.
- Thus, the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders varies widely by social class.
- Define mental health and explain why it is regarded as a socially constructed concept
-
Prisons and Asylums
- In 1870, they set out an agenda for reform which was endorsed by a National Congress in Cincinnati.
- Attitudes toward the mentally ill also began to change during the time of the Enlightenment.
- When the ruling monarch of the United Kingdom, George III, who suffered from a mental disorder, experienced a remission in 1789, mental illness also came to be seen as something that could be treated and cured.
- The outcome of her lobbying was a bill to expand the state's mental hospital in Worcester.
- Dix was influential in the establishment of Illinois's first state mental hospital and the construction of a hospital in North Carolina for the care of mentally ill patients, which was named in honor of Dorothea Dix and opened in 1856.