Abnormal Psychology – Chapter 2 – Conceptualizing
Abnormal Psychology
One-Dimensional versus Multidimensional
Models
• One-Dimensional Models
• Multidimensional Models
• The Role of Genes
• Neuroscience
• Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences
• Emotions
• Cultural, Social, and Interpersonal Factors
• Life-Span Development
• How do we put it all together?
One-Dimensional versus Multidimensional
Models
• One-Dimensional Models
• Single cause, operating in isolation
• Linear causal model
• Ignores critical information
• Multidimensional Models
• Systemic
• Several independent inputs that become interdependent
• Causes cannot be considered out of context
What Caused Judy’s Phobia?
• Behavioral factors
• Biological factors
• Genetics
• Physiology
• Neurobiology
• Emotional influences
What Caused Judy’s Phobia?
• Social factors
• Developmental factors
• All of these interact interdependently
What Caused Judy’s Phobia?
The Nature of Genes
• The nature of genes
• What are genes?
• Long molecules of DNA
• Double Helix structure
• Located on chromosomes
• 46 chromosomes in 23 pairs
• Pairs 1 – 22 = body and brain development
• Pair 23 = gender
The Nature of Genes
• What are genes?
• Determine physical characteristics
• (e.g., weight)
• Importance of contextual factors
• Dominant vs. recessive genes
• Single-gene determinants
• Polygenetic influences
• Rule, not the exception
Genetic Contributions to Psychopathology
• Evidence of the complexity and the contextual nature of genetics:
• Quantitative genetics accounts for the small, individual effects of several
genes
• Gene expression and gene-environment interactions
New Developments in the Study of Genes and
Behavior
• Behavioral genetics
• Role of genes and psychological disorders
The Interaction of Genes and the
Environment
• Eric Kandel—learning affects genetic structure of cells
• Activation of dormant genes
• Continued development in the brain
• Plasticity vs. hardwired
• Diathesis-Stress model
The Interaction of Genes and the
Environment
• Diathesis:
• Inherited tendency to express traits/behaviors
• Genetic
• Stress:
• Life events or contextual variables
• Environmental
• Combining both yields activation under the right conditions
The Diathesis-Stress Model
The Interaction of Genes and the Environment
• Gene-environment correlation model
• Genes shape how we create our environments
Inherited predispositions or traits that increase one’s likelihood to engage in
activities or seek out situations
Example: divorce
Gene-Environment Correlation Model
Epigenetics and the Nongenomic
“Inheritance” of Behavior
• Overemphasis on the role of genes?
• Environment and early learning
• Cross fostering studies of development
• Critical vs. sensitive periods
Genetic Contributions to Psychopathology
• ~50% of variance in personality or cognitive
characteristics
• Complex gene-environment relationships
• Genes:
• Behavior, Cognition, Emotions
• “Bounds” of environmental impact
• Environment:
• Genetic structure and activation
• May override genetic diathesis
Neuroscience and its Contributions to
Psychopathology
• The field of neuroscience
• The role of the nervous system in disease and behavior
• The central nervous system
• CNS
• Brain and spinal cord
• PNS
• Somatic and autonomic branches
The Central Nervous System
The Central Nervous System
• The neuron-basic building block
• Soma
• Dendrites
• Axon
• Axon terminals
• Synaptic cleft
• Function: electrical
• Communication: chemical
• Neurotransmitters
The Structure of the Brain
The Structure of the Brain
• Two main parts:
• Brain stem
• Basic functions
• Forebrain
• Higher cognition
The Structure of the Brain
• Hindbrain
• Medulla—Heart rate, blood pressure, respiration
• Pons—Regulates sleep stages
• Cerebellum—Physical coordination
• Midbrain
• Coordinates movement with sensory input
• Contains parts of the reticular activating system (RAS)
The Structure of the Brain
The Structure of the Brain
• Thalamus and hypothalamus
• Relays between brain stem and forebrain
• Behavioral and emotional regulation
• Limbic system
• Emotions, basic drives, impulse control
• Associated structures and psychopathology
• Basal ganglia
• Caudate nucleus
• Motor activity
The Structure of the Brain
The Structure of the Brain
The Structure of the Brain
The Structure of the Brain
• Forebrain (cerebral cortex)
• Most sensory, emotional, and cognitive processing
• Two specialized hemispheres
• Left
• Verbal, math, logic
• Right
• Perceptual
The Structure of the Brain
The Structure of the Brain
• Lobes of the cerebral cortex
• Frontal
• Thinking and reasoning abilities, memory
• Temporal
• Sight and sound recognition, long-term memory storage
• Parietal
• Touch recognition
• Occipital
• Integrates visual input
The Peripheral Nervous System
• Somatic system
• Voluntary muscles and movement
• Autonomic system
• Sympathetic (activating)
• parasympathetic (normalizing)
• Both divisions regulate:
• Cardiovascular system/body temperature
• Endocrine system/digestion
The Peripheral Nervous System
The Peripheral Nervous System
• The endocrine system
• Hormones
• The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenalcortical axis (HPA axis)
• Integration of endocrine and nervous system
The Peripheral Nervous System
Neurotransmitters
• Production
• Uptake and reuptake
• Functions
• Agonists
• Inverse agonists
• Antagonists
Neurotransmitters
• Glutamate and GABA
• Glutamate
• Excitatory
• GABA
• Inhibitory
• Fast acting
• Complex subsystems
• Implicated in anxiety
• Benzodiazepines
Neurotransmitters
• Serotonin (5HT)
• Monamine class
• Widespread, complex circuits
• Regulates behavior, moods, thought processes
• Low levels and vulnerabilities
• Implicated in several psychopathologies
Neurotransmitters
Neurotransmitters
Neurotransmitters
• Norepinephrine
• Stimulation of alpha- and beta-adrenergic receptors
• Respiration, reactions, alarm response
• Implicated in panic
Neurotransmitters
Neurotransmitters
• Dopamine
• “Switch” function in brain circuits
• Interacts with other neurotransmitters
• Implicated in schizophrenia
• Parkinson’s disease
Neurotransmitters
Implications for Psychopathology
• The brain and abnormal behavior
• Studying images
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Psychosocial Influences on Brain Structure
and Function
• Psychosocial influences on the brain
• Functional normalization in OCD
• Placebo
• Psychotherapy
• Stress and early development
• Interactions of psychosocial factors with brain structure and function
• Developmental disorders
• Environment and brain structures
Interactions of Psychosocial Factors
and Neurotransmitter Systems
• Some research indicates that psychosocial factors directly affect levels
of neurotransmitters
Psychosocial Effects on the
Development of Brain Structure
and Function
• The structure of neurons themselves, including the number of
receptors on a cell, can be changed by learning and experience during
development
Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences
• Conditioning and cognitive processes
• Respondent and operant learning
• Environmental relationships
Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences
Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences
• Learned helplessness
• Perceptions of control
• Implicated in depression
• Negative attributions
• “Learned optimism”
Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences
• Social learning
• Albert Bandura
• Modeling
• Observational learning
• Interactive and contingent on perceptions of similarity
Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences
• Prepared learning
• Evolutionary basis
• Increases survival
• “One-trial” learning
Cognitive Science and the Unconscious
• Blind sight
• Stroop paradigm
Emotions
• The nature of emotion
• Fight or flight response
• Fear response
• Cardiovascular
• Cortical
• Emotional response is terror, motivation for action
• Short-lived, temporary states
• Different from mood or affect
Emotional Phenomena
• Emotion
• Mood
• Affect
The Components of Emotion
• Emotion has three important and overlapping components: behavior,
cognition, and physiology
Emotions
Anger and Your Heart
• Hostility and anger are risk factors for heart disease
• Cardiovascular efficiency
• Interactions with genetic risks
Emotion and Psychopathology
• Timing of emotional responses
• Degree of response
• Environmental and social interactions
Voodoo, the evil eye, and other fears
• Cultural factors
• Influence form and expression of behavior
• Culturally-bound “fright disorders”
• Influence on objects of fear
• Interaction with physiology
Gender
• Gender effects and roles
• Related to cultural imperatives
• Influence across several dimensions
• Type and prevalence of fears
• Fear behaviors
• Responses
• Coping strategies
Social Effects on Health and Behavior
• Social effects on health and behavior
• Frequency and quality are critical
• Low social contacts
• Higher mortality
• Higher psychopathology
• Lower life expectancy
• Mediated by meaning and perception
Social Effects on Health and Behavior
• “Drift”
• Social and interpersonal influences on the elderly
• Stigma of psychopathology
• Influences the expression of distress
• Limits help-seeking behaviors
• Helps maintain the cycle of pathology
Global Incidence of Psychological Disorders
• Global incidence of psychological disorders
• Disorders are common across cultures accounting for 13% of the global
burden of disease
• Rates and expression varies
• Prevalence and incidence influenced by:
• Poverty
• Political unrest
• Technological disparities
• Treatment depends on views and provider availability
Life-Span Developmental
• Change over time
• Biological maturation
• Psychological development
• Social complexity
• Roles and demands
• Expression of disorders
• Treatment response
• “The end of history” illusion
Life-Span Developmental
• The principle of equifinality
• Chicchetti, 1991
• Several paths to a given outcome
• Paths vary by developmental stage
• Example: Delirium
• Interaction with other dimensions
• Social support
