Transcript Chapter 2

Abnormal Psychology,
Thirteenth Edition
by
Ann M. Kring,
Sheri L. Johnson,
Gerald C. Davison,
& John M. Neale
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Chapter
2: Current Paradigms in
Psychopathology
I. The Genetic Paradigm
II. The Neuroscience Paradigm
III. The Cognitive Behavioral Paradigm
IV. Factors That Cut Across the Paradigms
V. Diathesis-Stress: An Integrative Paradigm
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 Goal:
Study abnormal behavior scientifically
 Science aims for objectivity
 Paradigm (Thomas Kuhn)
• Perspective or conceptual framework from within
which a scientist operates
 We can never be totally objective; subjective factors
interfere
 No
one paradigm sufficient to completely
explain psychopathology
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 Heredity
plays a role in most behavior
 Genes
• Carriers of genetic information (DNA)
• Impacted by environmental influences
 e.g., stress, relationships, culture
 Relationship
between genes and
environment is bidirectional
• Nature via nurture (Ridley, 2003)
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 Gene
expression
• Proteins influence whether the action of a specific gene
will occur
 Polygenic
transmission
• Multiple gene pairs vs. single gene
 Heritability
• Extent to which variability in behavior is due to genetic
factors
 Heritability estimate ranges from 0.00 to 1.00
 Group, rather than individual, indicator
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 Shared
environment
• Events and experiences that family members have
in common
 Nonshared
environment
• Events and experiences that are unique to each
family member
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 Study
of the degree to which genes and
environmental factors influence behavior
 Genotype
• Genetic material inherited by an individual
• Unobservable
 Phenotype
• Expressed genetic material
• Observable behavior and characteristics
• Depends on interaction of genotype and environment
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 Identifies
• Alleles
particular genes and their functions
 Different forms of the same gene
• Polymorphism
 Difference in DNA sequence on a gene occurring in a population
 SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms)
• Identify differences in sequence of genes
 CNVs (Copy Number Variations)
• Identify differences in structure of genes; can be additions or
deletions in DNA within genes
 Knockout studies
• Removing specific genes in animals to observe effect on
behavior
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 Gene-environment
interaction
• One’s response to a specific environmental event is
influenced by genes
 Epigenetics
• Study of how the environment can alter gene expression
or function
• Cross-fostering adoptee method
 Rats born to mothers with low parenting skills who were raised by
mothers with high parenting skills showed lower levels of stress
reactivity (Francis et al., 1999)
 Environment (mothering) was responsible for turning on (or
turning up) the expression of a particular gene
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 Genes
predispose individuals to seek out
situations that increase the likelihood of
developing a disorder.
• Adolescent girls with genetic vulnerability for
depression more likely to experience events that
can trigger depression (Silberg et al., 1999)
• Dependent life events influenced by genes (Kendler
and Baker, 2007)
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 Examines
the contribution of brain structure
and function to psychopathology
• Mental disorders are linked to aberrant processes in
the brain.
 Three
major components:
• Neurons and neurotransmitters
• Brain structure and function
• Neuroendocrine system
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
Neurons
• Cells of the nervous system

Four major parts
•
•
•
•

Cell body
Dendrites
Axons
Terminal buttons
Nerve Impulse
• Dendrites or cell body stimulated
• Travels downs axon to terminal

Synapse
• Gap between neurons
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
Neurotransmitter
• Chemicals that allow neurons to
send a signal across the synapse
to another neuron

Receptor sites on
postsynaptic neuron absorb
neurotransmitter
• Excitatory
• Inhibitory

Reuptake
• Reabsorption of leftover
neurotransmitter by presynaptic
neuron
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
Serotonin and dopamine
• Implicated in depression, mania, and schizophrenia

Norepinephrine
• Implicated in anxiety and other stress-related disorders

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)
• Inhibits nerve impulses
• Implicated in anxiety

Possible mechanisms
•
•
•
•


Excessive or inadequate levels
Insufficient reuptake
Excessive number or sensitivity of postsynaptic receptors
Second messengers help neurons adjust receptor sensitivity after periods
of high activity
Agonist drugs stimulate neurotransmitter receptor sites
Antagonist drugs dampen neurotransmitter receptor sites
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 Two
cerebral hemispheres
• Connected by corpus callosum
 Sulci
(fissures) define
regions or lobes of the
cerebrum (gray matter):
• Frontal (Reasoning, Problem
Solving, Emotion Regulation)
• Parietal (Sensory-Spatial)
• Occipital (Vision)
• Temporal (Sounds)
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 White
Matter Interior
• Ventricles – filled with
cerebrospinal fluid
• Myelinated (sheathed) nerve
fibers
• Thalamus
 Sensory relay station (except
olfactory)
• Brain Stem
 Pons and medulla oblongata
• Cerebellum
 Responsible for balance, posture,
equilibrium
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
Limbic System (outdated
term):
• Often implicated in
psychopathology
• Involved in the expression of
emotions
• Amygdala is key brain
structure for psychopathology
researchers due to role in
attending to emotionally
salient stimuli and in
emotionally relevant
memories
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



HPA axis involved in stress
Hypothalamus triggers
release of corticotropinreleasing hormone (CRF)
Pituitary gland releases
adrenocorticotropic
hormone (ACTH)
Adrenal cortex triggers
release of cortisol, the
stress hormone
• Takes 20-40 minutes for cortisol
to peak
• Takes up to 1 hour for cortisol
levels to return to baseline
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 Psychoneuroimmunology
– the study of how
psychological factors impact the immune
system
 Two types of immunity:
• Natural immunity
• Specific immunity
 The
link between stress and the immune
system has several direct implications for
overall health.
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 Psychoactive
drugs alter neurotransmitter
activity
• Antidepressants
• Antipsychotics
• Benzodiazepenes
A
neuroscience view does not preclude
psychological interventions
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 Reductionism
• View that behavior can best be understand by
reducing it to its basic biological components
 Ignores more complex views of behavior
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 Roots in learning principles and cognitive
 Behavior is reinforced by consequences
•
•
•
•
Attention
Escape or avoidance
Sensory stimulation
Access to desirable objects or events
 To alter behavior, modify consequences
• Time out
 Systematic desensitization
• Relaxation plus exposure
 Imaginal or in vivo
• Important treatment for anxiety disorders
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science
 Behaviorism
emotions
 Cognition
criticized for ignoring thoughts and
• A mental process that includes:
 Perceiving, recognizing, conceiving, judging, and reasoning
 Schema
• Organized network of previously accumulated
knowledge
• We actively interpret new information
 Role
of attention in psychopathology
• Anxious individuals more likely to attend to threat or
danger
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 Contemporary
theorists have attempted to
study the unconscious scientifically
 Implicit memory
• The unconscious may reflect efficient information
processing rather than being a repository for
troubling material
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 Attends
to thoughts, perceptions, judgments,
self-statements, and unconscious
assumptions
 Cognitive Restructuring
• Change a pattern of thinking
• Changes in thinking can change feelings, behaviors,
and symptoms
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 Initially
developed for depression
 Depression caused by distorted thoughts
• Nothing ever goes right for me!
 Information-Processing
Bias
• Attention, interpretation, and recall of negative and
positive information biased in depression
 Help
patients recognize and change
maladaptive thought patterns
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 Focus
is on current determinants of
disorder
• Childhood and other historical antecedents given
less attention
 Are
distorted thoughts the cause or the
result of psychopathology?
• Causal status unclear
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 Affect
vs. mood
 Emotion
• Components
 Expressive
 Experiential
 Physiological
• Most psychopathology includes disturbances of one or
more component
 e.g., flat affect in schizophrenia
 What
is your ideal affect?
• Happiness vs. calmness
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 Sociocultural Factors
• Gender, race, culture, ethnicity, and socioeconomic
status
• May increase vulnerability to psychopathology
 e.g., women more likely to experience depression than
men
• Some disorders specific to certain cultures
 Hikikomori in Japanese culture
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 Object relations theory
• Longstanding patterns of relating to others
 Attachment theory
• Type and style of infant’s attachment to caregivers can
influence later psychological functioning
 Relational self
• Individuals will describe themselves differently depending
upon which close relationships they are told to think about
 Interpersonal therapy (IPT)
• Impact of current relationships on psychopathology
• Unresolved grief; Role transitions; Role disputes; Social
deficits
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
Integrative model that incorporates multiple causal
factors
• Genetic, neurobiological, psychological, and environmental

Diathesis
• Underlying predisposition
 May be biological or psychological
• Increases one’s risk of developing disorder

Stress
• Environmental events
 May occur at any point after conception
 Triggering event

Psychopathology unlikely to result from one single
factor
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Copyright 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, New York,
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