1. The science concerned with the pathology of the mind and behavior. 2. The science of mental and behavioral disorders, including psychiatry and abnormal psychology. [psycho- + G. pathos, disease, + logos, study]
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1) the study of psychological and behavioral dysfunction occurring in mental disorder or in social disorganization
2) disordered psychological and behavioral functioning (as in mental disorder) <the theory that holidays are associated with an increased incidence of \psychopathology (Science News)>
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n.
1. the study of mental disorders, with the aim of explaining and describing aberrant behaviour. Compare psychiatry.
2. the symptoms, collectively, of a mental disorder.
• psychopathological adj.
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psy·cho·pa·thol·o·gy (si″ko-pə-tholґə-je) [psycho- + pathology] 1. the pathology of mental disorders; the branch of medicine that deals with the causes and nature of mental disease. 2. abnormal, maladaptive behavior or mental activity.Medical dictionary. 2011.