noun
the branch of psychology concerned with abnormal behavior
• Syn: ↑psychopathology
• Derivationally related forms: ↑psychopathologic (for: ↑psychopathology)
• Hypernyms: ↑psychology, ↑psychological science
* * *
noun : a branch of psychology that deals with disorders of experience and of behavior (as in neuroses, psychoses, and mental deficiency) or with certain incompletely understood normal phenomena (as dreams and hypnosis)
* * *
the branch of psychology that deals with modes of behavior, mental phenomena, etc., that deviate markedly from the standards believed to characterize a well-adjusted personality.
[1900-05]
* * *
abnormal psychology,
the study of all forms of abnormal behavior of people, including the identification and classification of mental disorders, their causes, and their treatment; psychopathology. Students in this field are concerned with functional disorders, such as psychoses and neuroses, and organic disorders, such as loss of memory and mental retardation due to brain damage, circulation deficiencies, and similar causes.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.