Chapter 2: An integrative approach to psychopathology

Question 1

Multidimensional Integrative Approach

Answer 1

Approach to the study of psychopathology that holds psychologocal disorders are always the products of multiple interacting causal factors

• systemic causality that contributes to the developement of ones psychopathology
• abnormal behavior must be considered within the larger context of multipal influences
• interdisciplinary and intergrative
• draws upon information from several sources (i.e. biology, behavior, cognitive, emotional, social, and cultural environment)

Question 2

one-dimensional model

Answer 2

psychopathology is caused by a single cause is to accept a linear model

Question 3

genes

Answer 3

long deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecule, the basic physical unit of heredity that appears as a location on a chromosome.

Question 4

Nature Of Genes

Answer 4

• deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)- the double helix
• 23 pairs of chromosomes
• dominant-only 1 (gene for trait to be expressed)
• recessive genes- requires paired with another recessive gene for trait to be expressed)
• development and behavior is often polygenetic (influence by many genes)

Question 5

polygenetic

Answer 5

influence by many genes

Question 6

genome

Answer 6

an individual’s complete set of genes

Question 7

dominant gene

Answer 7

is one pair of genes that strongly influences a particular trait, and we only need one of them to determine a trait

Question 8

recessive gene

Answer 8

must be paired with another (recessive) gene to determine a trait

Question 9

quantitative genetics

Answer 9

sums up all the tiny effects across many genes without telling us which genes are responsible for which effects

Question 10

diathesis-stress model

Answer 10

hypothesis that both an inherited tendency (a vulnerability) and specific stressful conditions are required to produce a disorder

• individuals inherit tendencies to express certain traits or behavior, which may be activated under condition of extreme stress
• diathesis
• stress-life events
• greater the underlying vulnerability, the less stress necessary to trigger a disorder

Question 11

diathesis

Answer 11

a condition that makes someone susceptible to developing a disorder

Question 12

vulnerability

Answer 12

susceptibility or tendency to develop a disorder

Question 13

reciprocal gene-environment model

Answer 13

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

• genetic endowment may increase probability of individual experience stressful life events (i.e. depression, impulsivity)
• people seek other difficult relationships or circumstances that lead to depression
• environmental influences may override genetics
• they make choices that put them in the perpetual state of the victim

Question 14

epigenetics

Answer 14

the study of factors other than inherited DNA sequence, such as new learning or stress, that alter the pheotypic expression of genes

Question 15

neuroscience

Answer 15

study of the nervous system and its role in behavior, thoughts, and emotions.

Question 16

affect

Answer 16

Conscious, subjective aspect of an emotion that accompanies an action at a given time

Question 17

Agonist

Answer 17

In neuro science, a chemical substance that effectively increases the activity of a neurotransmitter by imitating its effects

Question 18

antagonist

Answer 18

in neuroscience, a chemical substance that decreases or blocks the effects of a neurotransmitter

Question 19

brain circuts

Answer 19

neurotransmitter current or neural pathway in the brain

Question 20

cognitive science

Answer 20

Feild of study that examines how humans and other animals acquire, process, store, and retrieve information

Question 21

diathesis-stress model

Answer 21

hypothesis that both an inherited tendency (a vulnerability) and specific stressful conditions are required to produce a disorder

Question 22

dopamine

Answer 22

Neurotransmitter whose generalized function is to activate other neurotransmitters 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.

Question 23

emotion

Answer 23

pattern of action elicited by an external event and a feeling state, accompanied by a characteristic physiological response.

Question 24

epigenetics

Answer 24

The study of factors other than inherited DNA sequence, such as new learning or stress, that alter the phenotypic expression of genes

Question 25

equifinality

Answer 25

Developmental psychopathology principle that a behavior or disorder may have several causes.

Question 26

flight or fight response

Answer 26

biological reactions to alarming stressors that musters the body’s resources (for example, blood flow and respiration) to resist or flee a threat.

Question 27

gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)

Answer 27

neurotransmitter that reduces activity across the synaptic cleft and thus inhibits a range of behaviors and emotions, especially generalized anxiety

Question 28

glutamate

Answer 28

Amino acid neurotransmitter that excites many different neurons, leading to action.

Question 29

hormone

Answer 29

chemical messenger produced by the endocrine glands

Question 30

implicit memory

Answer 30

condition of memory in which a person cannot recall past events despite acting response to them

Question 31

inverse agonist

Answer 31

in neuroscience, a chemical substance that produces effects opposite those of a particular neurotransmitter

Question 32

learned helplessness

Answer 32

Martin Seligmans theory that people become anxious and depressed when the make an attribution that they have no control over the stress in their lives (whether or not they actually have control).

Question 33

modeling (also observational learning)

Answer 33

learning through observation and imitation of the behavior of other individuals and consequences of that behavior

Question 34

mood

Answer 34

enduring period of emotionality

Question 35

neuron

Answer 35

individual nerve cell responsible for transmitting information

Question 36

neuroscience

Answer 36

study of the nervous system and its role in behavior, thoughts, and emotions

Question 37

neurotransmitters

Answer 37

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

Question 38

norepineohrine

(also noradrenaline)

Answer 38

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.

Question 39

prepared learning

Answer 39

ability adaptive for evolution, allowing certain associations to be learned more readily than others.

Question 40

reuptake

Answer 40

Action by which a neurotransmitter is quickly drawn back into the discharging neuron after being released into a synaptic cleft.

Question 41

serotonin

Answer 41

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

Question 42

synaptic cleft

Answer 42

space between nerve cells where chemical transmitters act to move impulses from one neuron to the next

Question 43

vulnerability

Answer 43

susceptibility or tendence to develop a disorder