An Integrative Approach to Psychopathology Flashcards
Define Multidimensional integrative approach
Psychological disorders are always the products of multiple interacting causal factors
What is a gene?
Molecules of DNA at various locations on chromosomes, within the cell nucleus
What is a ‘dominant gene’?
One of a pair of genes that strongly influences a particular trait
What is a ‘recessive gene’?
Must be paired with another (recessive) gene to determine a trait, otherwise it wont have any effect
What is the ‘Diathesis-stress model’?
An inherited tendency and specific stressful conditions are required to produce a disorder
Define Vulnerability
Susceptibility or tendency to develop a disorder
What is the ‘reciprocal gene-environment model’?
People with genetic predisposition for a disorder may also have a genetic tendency to create environmental risk factors that promote the disorder
Define neuroscience
Study of the nervous system and it’s role in behavior, thoughts, and emotions
What are the two nervous systems the human body is made up of?
- The Central Nervous System
2. The Peripheral Nervous System
What does the Central nervous system consist of?
- The Brain
- The Spinal Cord
What does the Peripheral Nervous System consist of?
- The Somatic Nervous System
- The Autonomic Nervous System
What are neurons?
Individual nerve cells responsible for transmitting information
What are the two branches on a neuron’s cell body?
- Dendrite
- Axon
Define a Dendrite
Dendrites have numerous receptors that receive messages in the form of chemical impulses from other nerves
Define an Axon
Axon’s transmit these chemical impulses to other neurons
What is a Synaptic Cleft?
The space between the axon of one neuron and the dendrite of another
What is a neurotransmitter?
Chemical that crosses the synaptic cleft between nerve cells to transmit impulses fro one neuron to the next
Define a hormone
Chemical messenger produced by the endocrine glands
What is a brain circuit?
Neurotransmitter current in the brain
What are ‘agonists’?
A chemical substance that INCREASES the activity of a neurotransmitter by mimicking it’s effects
What are ‘antagonists’?
A chemical substance that DECREASES, or blocks, a neurotransmitter
What are ‘inverse agonists’?
A chemical substance that produces effects OPPOSITE those of a particular neurotransmitter
What is a ‘reuptake’?
Action by which a neurotransmitter is quickly drawn back into the discharging neuron after being released into a synaptic cleft
Define Glutamate
Amino acid neurotransmitter that excites many different neurons, leading to action
What is gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)?
Neurotransmitter that regulates the transmission of information and action potentials
Define Serotonin
Neurotransmitter involved in processing information and coordination of movement, as well as inhibition and restraint
Define ‘norepinephrine’
Neurotransmitter active in the central and peripheral nervous systems, controlling heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration
Define ‘dopamine’
Neurotransmitter whose function is to activate other neurotransmitters and aid in pleasure-seeking behaviours
What is cognitive science?
A study that examines how humans and other animals acquire, process, store and retrieve information
What is learned helplessness?
Theory that people become anxious and depressed when they make an attribution that they have no control over the stress in their lives
What is modeling?
Learning through observation and imitation of the behavior of other individuals
What is prepared learning?
allowing certain associations to be learned more readily than others because such knowledge contributes to a species survival
What is implicit memory?
Condition of memory in which a person cannot recall past events
Define emotion
Pattern of action elicited by an external event and a feeling state accompanied by a characteristic physiological response
What is a flight or fight response?
Biological reaction to alarming stresser’s that muster the body’s resources to resist or flee a threat
Define mood
Enduring period of emotionality
Define affect
Subjective aspect of an emotion that accompanies an action at a given time
What is equifinality?
A principle that a behavior or disorder may have several causes
