Psychopathology WEEK 2.0

What is the integrative approach to psychopathology?

An approach that looks at multiple dimensions that can contribute to psychological disorders rather than assuming there is only one cause

What is the main idea behind the integrative approach?

No influence operates completely by itself. Different influences interact with and affect one another

What does "bidirectional" mean in the integrative approach?

Influences can affect each other in both directions.

Instead of:

ONE cause → ONE disorder

Think:

Biology ↔ Psychology ↔ Social factors ↔ Emotions ↔ Development

All of these can interact.

five major dimensions:

1. Biological

2. Psychological

3. Social learning

4. Emotional

5. Developmental

What do biological dimensions include?

Causal factors from genetics and neuroscience

What are the two major areas associated with biological influences?

Genetics and neuroscience

Example:

A person's genetic makeup may increase their vulnerability to a psychological disorder.

What do psychological dimensions include?

Behavioral and cognitive processes, including unconscious processes

What does the psychological dimension focus on?

How a person's thoughts, behaviors, and unconscious processes may contribute to psychological problems

Important idea:

"Not the disease a person has, but the person a disease has."

This emphasizes looking at the whole person, rather than seeing someone only as their disorder.

What is social learning?

Learning that occurs through observing and interacting with other people

How can social learning contribute to psychological disorders?

Modeling and reinforcement from other people can shape maladaptive behaviors and beliefs

What is modeling?

Learning by observing another person's behavior

ow can reinforcement from others affect behavior?

Behaviors that receive reinforcement may become more likely to continue.

Example:

A child sees a parent respond to strangers with fear → the child learns that strangers are dangerous → the child may develop social anxiety

How can emotional influences contribute to psychopathology?

Difficulty regulating emotions and having sustained negative emotions can increase vulnerability to psychological disorders.

What does difficulty regulating emotion mean?

Having trouble managing or controlling emotional responses

What does sustained negative affect mean?

Experiencing negative emotions for an extended period

Easy example:

Someone who has difficulty managing fear may continue feeling anxious even when the situation is no longer dangerous

What are developmental influences?

Factors related to how a person develops throughout life.

What factors are included in developmental influences?

Attachment, parenting, ACEs, social relationships, and developmental milestones.

What are ACEs?

Adverse Childhood Experiences.

Why does timing matter when considering developmental influences?

The same risk factor can produce different outcomes depending on when in life it occurs

Same experience ≠

same outcome

The effects of an experience can depend on when it happens during development.

Do biological, psychological, social, emotional, and developmental influences operate independently?

No, they interact and influence each other.

How do the different dimensions contribute to psychopathology?

Each dimension can influence the others, and they work together to create vulnerability to psychological disorders.

Each dimension can influence the others, and they work together to create vulnerability to psychological disorders

Example from the lecture:

A person may have:

• Fear of people

• Negative past experiences

• Parental influence

• Insecurities

• A tendency to expect the worst from people

• Lack of socialization during important developmental periods

These factors can interact rather than having one single cause.

What is the fallacy of a single cause?

Assuming that a psychological disorder or symptom has only one cause

There are two important possibilities:

One Cause → Many Symptoms

Can one event cause multiple symptoms?

Yes.

Example:
A traumatic event → anxiety + avoidance + fear + other symptoms

Can one symptom have multiple possible causes?

Yes.

Example:
Anxiety can result from biological, behavioral, emotional, social, or developmental influences

One cause →

many symptoms

One symptom →

many causes

If certain phobias, such as fear of heights or snakes, may be genetically prewired because they helped humans survive in the past, which influence is this?

Biological

Why?

The explanation involves genetics and evolutionary survival.

Jan's ex-husband's aftershave makes her nauseous even years after their divorce.

Q: Which influence best explains Jan's response?

Behavioral

Why?

The response can be understood as a learned association between the smell and her past experience.

Nathan is 16 and has more difficulty adjusting to his parents' separation than his 7-year-old sister.

Q: Which influence may explain the difference?

Developmental

Why?

The siblings are at different stages of development

Juanita had a traumatic Ferris wheel experience when she was young.

Q: What type of influence is likely involved in the initial development of the phobia?

Behavioral

What type of influence may maintain or increase the fear because of her strong emotional reaction?

Emotional

What is a genotype?

The genetic constitution of an individual organism

What is a phenotype?

The set of characteristics of an individual that are usually observable

What creates phenotypes?

Heredity and environment combine to create phenotypes

Does genetics alone determine every characteristic?

No. Environment also plays an important role.

Key idea:

Genes + Environment → Phenotype

This is important because psychological characteristics cannot always be explained by genetics alone.

Where are chromosomes located?

In the nucleus of cells.

What are chromosomes made of?

DNA and proteins

What does DNA stand for?

Deoxyribonucleic acid

What does DNA carry?

Genetic information in the form of genes

Chromosomes and DNA- Easy chain

Cell → Nucleus → Chromosomes → DNA → Genes

What are alleles?

Different versions or variants of the same gene

How many alleles do you inherit for each gene?

Usually two — one from each parent

What do the two alleles help determine?

A specific trait, such as eye color or blood type.

What is a dominant allele?

An allele that affects the individual's characteristics in dominant-recessive inheritance.

What is a recessive allele?

An allele that does not affect the characteristics when paired with a dominant allele.

Important:

Dominant + Recessive → dominant characteristic

What is incomplete dominance?

A pattern of inheritance in which the resulting phenotype is combined or intermediate between the two alleles.

Easy example:

Instead of:

Red + White → Red

or

Red + White → White

you could get:

Red + White → Pink

The resulting trait is intermediate.

Do all cells use all of their genes?

no

What happens to genes in specialized cells?

Only a small proportion of genes are turned on or expressed

Why does gene expression matter?

It allows cells to become specialized.

Example:

Different genes being expressed can help cells specialize in things such as:

• Liver function

• Brain functions

• Personality-related characteristics

Can environmental factors influence whether genes are expressed?

yes

What does it mean for a gene to be "turned on"?

The gene is being expressed or actively used

Can environmental effects on gene expression potentially last across generations?

The lecture notes that effects can extend up to several generations.

⭐ Key idea:

Environment can influence gene expression.

So genes and environment aren't completely separate

Do genetics contribute to psychological disorders?

Yes. Research has identified genetic contributions to psychological disorders and related behavioral patterns

Approximately how much of enduring personality traits and cognitive abilities does the lecture estimate may be attributed to genetic influence?

About half

What examples of characteristics are given?

Extroversion, intelligence, and problem solving

If one identical twin has schizophrenia, does the other twin definitely develop schizophrenia?

no

What does the lecture say about the likelihood that the other identical twin will develop schizophrenia?

It is less than 50%

Why is this important?

If genetics completely determined schizophrenia, identical twins would be expected to have the disorder at a much higher rate.

The fact that the rate is less than 50% shows that environmental factors also matter

Can environmental experiences overwhelm the influence of genes?

yes

What type of experiences can affect genetic influence?

Adverse or stressful life events, such as a chaotic childhood or the death of a loved one.

Can two people with similar genetic backgrounds have different outcomes?

Yes, because their environments and experiences can differ.

What does it mean that the brain is plastic?

The brain and its functions can continually change in response to the environment

Can learning and environmental experiences influence gene activity?

yes

How can changes in gene activity affect the brain?

They can affect things such as the number of receptors at the end of a neuron and therefore influence biochemical functioning

What neurotransmitters/hormones are mentioned in this context?

Dopamine, serotonin, cortisol, and melatonin

Remember:

Plastic = changeable

The brain isn't completely fixed

What is the diathesis–stress model?

A model suggesting that people can inherit vulnerabilities or tendencies toward certain traits or behaviors that may become activated when they experience certain types of stress

What is a diathesis?

An inherited tendency or condition that makes someone susceptible to developing a disorder.

What is needed for a disorder to develop according to the model?

Both a vulnerability/predisposition and an appropriate environmental trigger or stressor.

Formula:

Diathesis + Stress/Trigger → Disorder

Example:

Someone may inherit a vulnerability toward addiction.

But:

Vulnerability alone ≠ addiction

If the person experiences certain environmental events, trauma, or other adverse experiences, the vulnerability may become more prominent.

Vulnerability alone ≠

addiction

If the person experiences certain environmental events, trauma, or other adverse experiences, the vulnerability may become more prominent

Is there an "alcoholic gene"?

no

What genetic factors may contribute to vulnerability to addiction?

Factors involving impulse control, decision making, alcohol tolerance, ability to metabolize alcohol, and dopamine production

What is the diathesis in the addiction example?

The inherited tendency or vulnerability toward addiction-related behaviors.

What can activate the vulnerability?

Environmental events such as adverse experiences, trauma, or depression.

Main point:

Genes can create vulnerability, but environment can help determine whether that vulnerability becomes expressed.

What system regulates many processes involved in psychopathology?

The nervous system.

What are the two major divisions of the nervous system mentioned?

The central nervous system and peripheral nervous system

What makes up the central nervous system (CNS)?

The brain and spinal cord

What makes up the peripheral nervous system (PNS)?

he somatic nervous system and autonomic nervous system

Central Nervous System

• Brain

• Spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous System

• Somatic nervous system

• Autonomic nervous system

What do neurotransmitters do?

They carry messages from one neuron to another

Why are neural pathways important in psychopathology?

Some neural pathways play roles in psychological disorders

What does "neurons that fire together, wire together" mean?

When neurons are repeatedly active together, their connections can become stronger

Easy way:

Repeated activity → stronger connections

What did older studies sometimes claim about neurotransmitters and psychological disorders?

They suggested that disorders were caused by biochemical imbalances, excesses, or deficiencies in certain neurotransmitter systems

What neurotransmitter has often been associated with depression?

Serotonin

What neurotransmitter has been implicated in schizophrenia?

Dopamine

Is it accurate to say that psychological disorders are simply caused by one neurotransmitter being "too high" or "too low"?

No. The lecture identifies this as an oversimplification

Psychological disorders are more complicated than simply having "too much" or "too little" of one neurotransmitter.

What does an agonist do?

Increases neurotransmitter activity.

What does an antagonist do?

Decreases or blocks neurotransmitter activity

AGONIST =

ACTIVATES

ANTAGONIST =

AGAINST

Who is associated with conditioning?

Pavlov

What can conditioning contribute to?

Learned responses associated with experiences such as trauma

What famous experiment is associated with learned fear?

The Baby Albert experiment.

Who is associated with learned helplessness?

Martin Seligman

What is social learning based on?

Modeling and observational learning

SUPER IMPORTANT COMPARISON

table

SUPER IMPORTANT MEMORY MAP

Psychological Disorder

Think:

Biological
↓
Psychological
↓
Social Learning
↓
Emotional
↓
Developmental

But DON'T memorize these as a straight line.

The important point is:

They interact with each other.

Heredity and ________ combine to create phenotypes

environment

An individual's genetic constitution is called their ________

genotype