Introduction
This topic introduces the mental systems: the organised functions of the psyche that include mental processes, states and properties, and their organisation within the brain. It gives the basic classification that the rest of medical psychology builds on.
What mental activity is
- The psyche is the subjective reflection of reality in the form of images, knowledge, feelings and intentions. It allows the person to orient, act and adapt.
- Mental processes are dynamic events that run over time. Mental states are relatively stable conditions of the psyche at a given moment. Mental properties are stable characteristics of the person.
- Medical psychology uses the classification of mental activity to describe what has gone wrong in a patient and to choose the right assessment.
Classification of mental processes
- The three groups interact continuously. An emotion can focus attention, and a motive can shape what is perceived and remembered.
Mental states and properties
- Mental states include alertness, fatigue, mood, stress and attentional focus. They change from hour to hour.
- Mental properties include temperament, character, abilities, self-concept and personality traits. They change slowly and are shaped by heredity, development and experience.
- A clinician distinguishes a temporary state, such as anxiety before an examination, from a stable property, such as a chronic tendency to anxiety.