EXAM 1 - ch2 - causes of psychopathology Flashcards
One-Dimensional Model
Explain behavior in terms of a single cause
Could mean a paradigm, school, or conceptual approach
Tend to ignore information from other areas
Example: Explaining obsessive-compulsive disorder as the result of modeling a parent alone—Behavioral Model only
Multidimensional Model
Interdisciplinary, eclectic, and integrative
“System” of influences that cause and maintain suffering/problems
Draw upon information from several sources
Psychopathology results from multiple influences
Integrative Systems Approach
Allows for different causes in different people for different disorders.
This approach emphasizes:
Multifactorial causes
The biopsychosocial perspective
The diathesis–stress model
The diathesis–stress model is a psychological theory that attempts to explain a disorder as the result of an interaction between a predispositional vulnerability and a stress caused by life experiences. The term diathesis derives from the Greek term for a predisposition, or sensibility
The greater the vulnerability, the less stress needed to trigger a disorder
Equifinality
is used in developmental psychopathology to indicate that we must consider a number of paths to a given outcome
Reciprocal Causality
the way that you are, will influence how our environment will react to us. Temperament differences can cause siblings to be treated differently by their parents.
Lifespan
depression will look very different in different ages
Developmental Psychopathology
We need to understand normal development in order to understand abnormal development
Reciprocal gene-environment model
Outcomes are a result of interactions between genetic vulnerabilities and experience
Examples: depression, impulsivity
Genetics may make people more likely to seek out certain environments, thus affecting their experiences
Epigenetics
Environmental influences (e.g., stress, nutrition) actually affect the expression of certain genes both for the individual and their descendants
The field of neuroscience
The role of the nervous system in disease and behavior
The Central Nervous System
Brain and spinal cord
The Peripheral Nervous System
Somatic and autonomic branches
Somatic Nervous System
controls voluntary muscles and conveys sensory information to the central nervous system
Autonomoic Nervous System
control involuntary muscle movement
further divided into sympathetic and parasympathetic branches
Regulates cardiovascular system & body temperature
Also regulates the endocrine system and aids in digestion
sympathetic
expands energy (3F’s)
parasympathetic
conserves energy (resting)
Neurons
Neurons operate electrically, but communicate chemically
Neurotransmitters
“Chemical messengers”
transmit messages between brain cells
Endocrine System
Regulates release of hormones
The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenalcortical axis (HPA axis)
Integration of endocrine and nervous system function, typically in response to stress
Dysregulated hormones are implicated in some forms of psychopathology (depression; anxiety)
Agonists
increase activity of a neurotransmitter
Inverse agonists
produce effects opposite to a neurotransmitter
Antagonists
inhibit or block the production of neurotransmitter or function indirectly to prevent the chemical from reaching the next neuron by closing or occupying the receptors.
Main types of neurotransmitters
The Monoamine class The Amino-acid class
The Monoamine class:
Serotonin (5-HT)
Norepinephrine
Dopamine
The Amino-acid class:
Glutamate (Excitatory)
Gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) (inhibitory)
Serotonin
Also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)
Influences information processing, behavior, mood and thoughts
Dysregulated serotonin may contribute to depression
Very low serotonin linked to instability and impulsivity
Norepinephrine
Also called noradrenaline
Involved in alarm responses and basic bodily processes (e.g. breathing)
Dopamine
Implicated in depression and ADHD
Link between excessive dopamine and schizophrenia
Link between reduced dopamine and Parkinson’s disease
Glutamate
An excitatory neurotransmitter that “turns on” many different neurons.
It works in concert with GABA, its “chemical brother.”
Implicated in anxiety disorders
GABA (Gamma-aminobutyric acid)
An inhibitory neurotransmitter
Reduces post-synaptic activity
Inhibits a range of behaviors and emotions (e.g., anxiety but also positive emoetions) and reduces overall levels of arousal, even relaxes muscles
Benzodiazepines make it easier for GABA to become attached to certain neurons (calmer)
Addictive properties of the benzos implicate other neurochemicals also being affected in conjunction with GABA
More stimulating environments
promote neurodevelopment
Learned helplessness
model of depression – Martin Silengnent
People learn no matter what they do wont affect their environment
Social learning
Based on research of Albert Bandura
Modeling and observational learning: Learn to copy the behaviors that seem to turn out well for other people
Prepared learning
It is easier to learn associations that would have been helpful to our ancestors
Example: Easier to acquire a fear of spiders because it was adaptive for our ancestors to fear (possibly poisonous) spiders
Implicit memory
Acting on the basis of experiences that are not recalled
Participants are slowed down in their performance by words that have emotional significance, even if they are not aware of this
Blind sight
Some people who are blind can still sense objects that would be in their visual field even if they do not experience sight
Emotion has three important and overlapping components:
behavior, cognition, and physiology.
Suppressing negative emotions
increases sympathetic nervous system activity
Dysregulated emotions
are key features of many mental disorders
Temperament
One’s characteristic style of relating to the world
5 Dimensions of Personality (“The Big 5 Factors”)
Openness to Experience Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism
Susto
symptoms of anxiety occurring when an individual believes (s)he has been struck by black magic
Equifinality
the same outcome can be arrived at from different origins
Multifinality
the same origin can end up at different outcomes
