Chapter 2 Flashcards
multidimensional integrative approach
Approach to the study of psychopathology that holds psychological disorders are always the products of multiple interacting causal factors.
genes
Long deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecule, the basic physical unit of heredity that appears as a location on a chromosome.
diathesis–stress model
Hypothesis that both an inherited tendency (a vulnerability) and specific stressful conditions are required to produce a disorder.
vulnerability
Susceptibility or tendency to develop a disorder.
gene–environment correlation model
Hypothesis that people with a genetic pre- disposition for a disorder may also have a genetic tendency to create environmental risk factors that promote the disorder.
epigenetics
The study of factors other than inherited DNA sequence, such as new learning or stress, that alter the phenotypic expression of genes.
neuroscience
Study of the nervous system and its role in behavior, thoughts, and emotions.
neuron
Individual nerve cell responsible for transmitting information.
action potentials
Short periods of electrical activity at the membrane of a neuron, responsible for the transmission of signals within the neuron.
terminal button
The end of an axon (of a neuron) where neurotransmitters are stored before release.
synaptic cleft
Space between nerve cells where chemical transmitters act to move impulses from one neuron to the next.
neurotransmitters
Chemical that crosses the synaptic cleft between nerve cells to transmit impulses from one neuron to the next. Relative excess or deficiency of neurotransmitters is involved in several psychological disorders.
excitatory
Causing excitation. Activating
inhibitory
Causing inhibition. Suppressing.
hormone
Chemical messenger produced by the endocrine glands.
brain circuits
Neurotransmitter current or neural pathway in the brain.
agonist
In neuroscience, a chemical substance that effectively increases the activity of a neurotransmitter by imitating its effects.
antagonist
In neuroscience, a chemical substance that decreases or blocks the effects of a neurotransmitter.
inverse agonist
In neuroscience, a chemical substance that produces effects opposite those of a particular neurotransmitter.
reuptake
Action by which a neurotransmitter is quickly drawn back into the discharging neuron after being released into a synaptic cleft.
glutamate
Amino acid neurotransmitter that excites many different neurons, leading to action
gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)
Neurotransmitter that reduces activity across the synaptic cleft and thus inhibits a range of behaviors and emotions, especially generalized anxiety.
serotonin
Neurotransmitter involved in processing of information and coordination of movement, as well as inhibition and restraint. It also assists in the regulation of eating, sexual, and aggressive behaviors, all of which may be involved in different psychological disorders. Its interaction with dopamine is implicated in schizophrenia.
norepinephrine (also known as noradrenaline)
Neurotransmitter active in the central and peripheral nervous systems, controlling heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration, among other functions. Because of its role in the body’s alarm reaction, it may also contribute generally and indirectly to panic attacks and other disorders. Also known as noradrenaline.
dopamine
Neurotransmitter whose generalized function is to activate other neuro- transmitters and to aid in exploratory and pleasure-seeking behaviors (thus balancing serotonin). A relative excess of dopamine is implicated in schizophrenia (although contradictory evidence suggests the connection is not simple), and its deficit is involved in Parkinson’s disease.
cognitive science
Field of study that examines how humans and other animals acquire, process, store, and retrieve information.
learned helplessness
Martin Seligman’s theory that people become anxious and depressed when they make an attribution that they have no control over the stress in their lives (whether or not they do in reality).
modeling (or observational learning)
Learning through observation and imitation of the behavior of other individuals and consequences of that behavior.
prepared learning
Ability adaptive for evolution, allowing certain associations to be learned more readily than others.
implicit memory
Condition of memory in which a person cannot recall past events despite acting in response to them.
flight or fight response
Biological reaction to alarming stressors that musters the body’s resources (for example, blood flow and respiration) to resist or flee a threat.
emotion
Pattern of action elicited by an external event and a feeling state, accompanied by a characteristic physiological response.
mood
Enduring period of emotionality.
affect
Conscious, subjective aspect of an emotion that accompanies an action at a given time.
circumplex model
A model describing different emotions as points in a 2-dimensional space of valence and arousal.
equifinality
Developmental psychopathology principle that a behavior or disorder may have several causes.
