Chapter 2: An Integrative Approach to Psychopathology Flashcards
multidimensional integrative approach
Approach to the study of psychopathology that holds psychological disorders as always
being the products of multiple interacting
causal factors.
genes
long molecules ofdeoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) at various locations on chromosomes, within the cell nucleus.
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 predisposition 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.
synaptic cleft
Space between nerve cells where chemical transmitters act to move impulses from one neuron to the next.
neurotransmitters
Chemicals that cross the synaptic cleft between nerve cells to transmit
impulses from one neuron to the next. Their relative excess or deficiency is involved in several psychological disorders.
hormone
Chemical messenger produced by the
endocrine glands.
brain circuits
Neurotransmitter currents or neural pathways in the brain.
agonist
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
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 synapse 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 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.
dopamine
Neurotransmitter whose generalized function is to activate other neurotransmitters and to aid in exploratory and pleasureseeking 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.
cogntive science
Field of study that examines how humans and other animals acquire,
process, store, and retrieve information.
learned helpnesses
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 (observational learning)
Learning through observation and imitation
of the behavior of other individuals and consequences of that behavior.
prepared learning
An ability that has been 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 (contrast with
explicit memory).
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.
equifinality
Developmental psychopathology
principle that a behavior or disorder may have
several causes.
