CHAP 3
(bidirectional) influences must be taken into account
CAUSES AND RISK FACTORS FOR ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR
 Although understanding the causes of abnormal behavior is
clearly a desirable goal, it is enormously difficult to achieve
because human behavior is so complex
 RISK FACTORS – variables correlated with an abnormal
outcome
o Many investigators now prefer to speak of this even
though understanding the causes remains the ultimate
goal
1. NECESSARY, SUFFICIENT AND CONTRIBUTORY CAUSES
 ETIOLOGY – causal pattern of abnormal behavior
 NECESSARY CAUSE – (cause X) a condition that must exist
for a disorder (disorder Y) to occur
o If Y occurs, then X must have preceded it
o Most mental disorders have not been found to have
necessary causes
 SUFFICIENT CAUSE – (cause X) of a disorder is a condition
that guarantees the occurrence of the disorder (disorder Y)
o If X occurs, then Y will also occur
 A sufficient cause may not be a necessary cause
 CONTRIBUTORY CAUSE – (cause X) is one that increases the
probability of the disorder (disorder Y) developing but is
neither necessary nor sufficient for the disorder to occur
o If X occurs, then the probability of Y occurring
increases
 In addition to distinguishing among necessary, sufficient
and contributory causes of abnormal behavior, we must
also consider the time frame under which the different
causes operate
 DISTAL CAUSAL FACTORS – causal factors occurring
relatively early in life may not show their effects for many
years
 PROXIMAL CAUSAL FACTORS – causal factors operate
shortly before the occurrence of the symptoms of the
disorder
o May be a condition that proves too much for a child
or an adult and triggers the onset of a disorder
o Might involve biological changes such as damage to
certain parts of the left hemisphere to the brain
 REINFORCING CONTRIBUTORY CAUSE – a condition that
tends to maintain maladaptive behavior that is already
occurring
 For many forms of psychopathology, we do not yet have a
clear understanding of whether there are necessary of
sufficient causes
 We do however have a good understanding of many of the
contributory causes for most forms of psychopathology
 What may be a proximal cause for a problem at one stage in
life may also serve as a distal contributory cause that sets
up a predisposition for another disorder later in life
2. FEEDBACK AND BIDIRECTIONALITY IN ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR
 The task of determining cause-and0effect relationships has
focused on isolating the condition X (cause) that can be
demonstrated to lead to condition Y (effect)
 CAUSAL PATTERN – when more than one causal factor is
involved
o Conditions A, B and C may lead to condition Y
 Effects can serve as feedback that can in turn influence the
causes
 The effects of feedback and the existence of mutual, 2-way
3. DIATHESIS-STRESS MODELS
 DIATHESIS – a predisposition toward developing a disorder
o Can derive from biological, psychological or
sociocultural causal factors
 Many mental disorders are believed to develop when some
kind of stressor operates on a person who has a diathesis or
vulnerability for that disorder
 DIATHESIS STRESS MODEL – views psychopathology as the
result of the interaction between a person's vulnerability
for a disorder and stress; A susceptible individual may never
manifest a mental illness until he encounters a type or
degree of stress that is enough to trigger it.
 The diathesis or vulnerability results from one or more
relatively distal necessary of contributory causes but is
generally not sufficient to cause the disorder
 There must be a more proximal undesirable event or
situation which may also be contributory or necessary but is
generally not sufficient by itself to cause the disorder
except on someone with the diathesis
 STRESS – response or experience of an individual to
demands that he or she perceives as taxing or exceeding his
or her personal resources
 It usually occurs when an individual experiences chronic or
episodic events that are undesirables and lead to
behavioral, physiological and cognitive accommodations
 Factors contributing to the development of a diathesis are
themselves sometimes highly potent stressors
 ADDITIVE MODEL – individuals who have a high level of
diathesis may need only a small amount of stress before a
disorder develops, but those who have a very low level of
diathesis may need to experience a large amount of stress
for a disorder to develop
o The idathessi and stress sum together and when one
is high the other can below and vice versa
o A person with no diathesis or a very low level of
diathesis could still develop a disorder when faced
with truly severe stress
 INTERACTIVE MODEL – some amount of diathesis must be
present before stress will have any effect
o Someone with no diathesis will never develop the
disorder, no matter how much stress he experiences,
whereas someone with diathesis will show increasing
likelihood of developing the disorder with increasing
levels of stress
 PROTECTIVE FACTORS – influences that modify a person’s
response to environmental stressors, making it less likely
that the person will experience the adverse consequences
of the stressors
o Operate only to help resist against the effects of a risk
factor than to provide any benefits to people without
risk factors
o Not necessarily positive experiences
o Most often but now always lead to resilience
 RESILIENCE – the ability to adapt successfully to even very
difficult circumstances
o Phenomenon that some individuals have a relatively
good outcome despite suffering risk experiences that
would be expected to bring about serious sequale
 If a child’s fundamental systems of adaptation are operating
normally, then most threatening circumstances will have
minimal impact on him
  Problems tend to arise when one or more of these systems
of adaptation is weak to begin with or when a serious
stressor damages one or more of these systems
 Problems can also arise when the level of challenge far
exceeds human capacity to adapt
 Resilient children may nonetheless also experience
considerable self-reported emotional distress
 Children who show resilience in one domain may show
significant difficulties in other domains
 We can distinguish between causes of abnormal behavior
that lie within and are part of the biological makeup or prior
experience of a person and causes that pertain to current
challenges in a person’s life
 Neither the diathesis nor the stress by itself by itself
sufficient to cause the disorder, but in combination they can
sometimes lead the individual to behave abnormally
 Diathesis stress models need to be considered in a broad
framework of MULTICAUSAL DEVELOPMENTAL MODELS
 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY – focuses on
determining what is abnormal at any point in development
by comparing and contrasting it with the normal and
expected changes that occur in the course of development
VIEWPOINTS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE CAUSES OF ABNORMAL
BEHAVIOR:
 The more complex the phenomenon being investigated, the
greater the number of viewpoints that develop in a attempt
to explain it although not all equally valid
 Viewpoints help determine the kinds of potential causes that
are even examined in the first place
 Each of these viewpoints is a theoretical construction devised
to orient psychologists in the study of abnormal and normal
behavior
 SIGMUND FREUD – helped shift the focus of abnormal
psychology from biological illness or moral infirmity to
unconscious mental processes within the person
 BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL VIEWPOINT – acknowledges that
biological, psychological and sociocultural factors all interact
and play a role in psychopathology and treatment
1. BIOLOGICAL/ORGANIC VIEWPOINT AND CAUSAL FACTORS
 Mental disorders are viewed as disorders of the CENTRAL
NERVOUS SYSTEM, the AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM and
the ENDOCRINE SYSTEM that are either inherited or caused
by some pathological process
 The disorders first recognized as having organic
components were those associated with GROSS
DESTRUCTION OF THE BRAIN
 NEUROLOGICAL DISEASES – result from the disruption of
brain functioning by physical or biochemical means and
often involve psychological or behavioral aberrations
 Most mental disorders are not caused by neurological
damage
4 CATEGORIES OF BIOLOGICAL FACTORS THAT ARE RELAVANT TO
THE DEVELOPMENT OF MALADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR
 they interact with each other
 the different factors may play more or less important roles in
different people
a) IMBALANCES OF NEUROTRANSMITTERS AND HORMONES
 in order for the brain to function adequately, neurons or
nerve cells need to be able to communicate effectively
with one another
 communication is done through the transmission of nerve
impulses which are electrical in nature
 nerve impulses travel from the cell body or dendrites of
one neuron down the axon
 there is only one axon for each neuron
 AXON ENDING – axon’s branches at their ends; sites where
neurotransmitter substances are released into the synapse
 SYNAPSE – tiny fluid filled space between the axon endings
of one neuron (PRESYNAPTIC NEURON) and the dendrites
or cell body of another neuron (POSTSYNAPTIC NEURON)
o Site of communication between axon of one neuron
and the dendrites of cell body of another
 NEUROTRANSMUTTERS – chemical substances that are
released into the synapse by the presynaptic neuron when
a nerve impulse occurs
o It then act on the postsynaptic membranes of the
dendrite of the receiving neuron which has specialized
receptor sites where the neurotransmitter substances
pass on their message
o Can stimulate that postsynaptic neuron to either
initiate an impulse of inhibit impulse transmission
o Once released, it does not stay indefinitely
o Either increase the likelihood of the postsynaptic
neuron will fire or inhibit
 MONOAMINE OXIDASE – enzyme that destroys excess
neurotransmitters; also present in the presynaptic
terminal
 REUPTAKE MECHANISM – process of reabsorption by
which the neurotransmitters are reabsorbed or effectively
sucked back up into the axon ending
 Whether the neural message in successfully transmitted to
the postsynaptic neuron depends on the concentration of
certain neurotransmitters within the synapse
 The belief that imbalances in neurotransmitters in the
brain can result in abnormal behavior
 Sometimes psychological stress can bring on
NEUROTRANSMITTER IMBALANCES which can be created
by:
o There may be excessive production and release of the
neurotransmitter substance into the synapses
o There may be dysfunctions in the normal process by
which neurotransmitters, once released into the
synapse and deactivated (may be due to degeneration)
o There may be a problem with the receptors in the
postsynaptic neuron
o Neurons that are sensitive to a particular
neurotransmitter tend to cluster together, forming
neural paths between parts of the brain
o CHEMICAL CIRCUITS – neural paths between different
parts of the brain
o Different disorders are though to stem from different
patterns of neurotransmitter imbalances in various
brain diseases
o Medications are believed to correct the imbalance
 o 5 NEUROTRANSMITTERS:
1) NOREPINEPHRINE- implicated as playing an
important role in emergency reactions our
bodies show when we are exposed to an acutely
stressful or dangerous situation as well as
attention, orientation and basic motives
2) DOPAMINE – include pleasure and cognitive
processing
3) SEROTONIN – found to have important effects
on the way we think and process information
from our environment as well as on behaviors
and moods; play a role in emotional disorders
4) GABA (GAMMA AMINO BUTYRIC ACID) –
strongly implicated in reducing anxiety as well as
other emotional states characterized by high
levels of arousal
5) GLUTAMATE
o 1ST 3 are MONOAMINES because each is synthesized
from a single amino acid
o They may do so by blocking the reuptake process by
altering the sensitivity of the receptor sites or by
affecting the actions
o AGONISTS – medications that facilitate the effects of a
neurotransmitter on the postsynaptic neuron
o ANTAGONISTS – those that oppose or inhibit the
effects of a neurotransmitter
 HORMONES – chemical messengers secreted by a set of
endocrine glands in our bodies
 Each endocrine glands produces and releases its own set
of hormones directly into our bloodstream
 The hormones that travel and directly affect target cells in
various parts of out brain and body, influencing diverse
events
 NEUROENDOCRINE SYSTEM – our CNS is linked to the
endocrine system by the effects of the HYPOTHALAMUS
on the PITUITARY GLAND – master gland of the body
 HYPOTHALAMIC-PITUITARY-ADRENAL AXIS (HPA AXIS) –
activation involves:
1) Messages in the form of CORTICOTROPHIN-
RELEASING HORMONE travel from the
hypothalamus to the pituitary
2) The pituitary releases ADRENOCORTICOTROPHIC
HORMONE which stimulates the cortical part of the
adrenal gland to produce EPINEPHRINE and the
stress hormone CORTISOL which are released to the
general circulation
3) Cortisol provides negative feedback to the
hypothalamus and pituitary to decrease their
release of CRH and ACTH which in turn reduces the
release of adrenaline and cortisol
 Malfunctioning of this negative feedback system has been
implicated in various forms of psychopathology
 GONADAL HORMONAL INFLUENCES on the developing
nervous system also seem to contribute to some of the
differences between behavior in men and women
b) GENETIC VULNERABILITIES
 GENES – consists of very long molecules of DNA and are
present at various locations on chromosomes
o Carriers of genetic information that we inherit from
out parents and other ancestors and each gene exist in
2 or more alternate forms – ALLELES
 CHROMOSOMES – chain-like structures within a cell
nucleus that contain the genes
 Most mental disorders show at least some genetic
influence ranging from small to large
 Genetic influences are first apparent in newborns and
children
 Some genetic resources of vulnerability do not manifest
themselves until adolescence of adulthood
 Healthy human cells have 46 CHROMOSOMES containing
genetic materials then encode the hereditary plan for each
individual, providing potentialities for development and
behavior of that individual throughout a lifetime
 The normal inheritance consists of 23 PAIRS OF
CHROMOSOMES
o 22 PAIRS determines an individual’s general
anatomical and other physiological characteristics
o The remaining pair is the SEX CHROMOSOSNE which
determines the individual’s sec
 Abnormalities in the structure or number of chromosomes
can be associated with major defects or disorders
 DOWN SYNDROME (TRISOMY 21) – type of intellectual
disability in which there is a trisomy in chromosome 21;
extra chromosome is the cause of the disorder
 Anomalies may also occur in the sex chromosome
 Personality traits and mental disorders are not affected by
chromosomal abnormalities
 They are more influenced either by abnormalities in some
of the genes on the chromosomes or by naturally
occurring variations of genes
 POLYMORPHHISMS – naturally occurring variations of
genes
 Vulnerabilities to mental disorders are almost always
POLYGENIC – influenced by multiple genes or by multiple
polymorphisms of genes with any one gene having only
very small effects
 A genetically vulnerable person has usually inherited a
large number of genes that operate together in some sort
of additive or interactive fashion to increase vulnerability
 Genetic influences rarely express themselves in a simple
and straightforward manner because behavior is not
determines exclusively by genetic endowment; it is a
product of the organism’s interaction with the
environment
 Genes affect behavior indirectly
 GENE EXPRESSION – normally not a simple outcome of the
information encoded in DNA but is the end product of an
intricate process that may be influenced by the internal
and external environment
 Certain genes can be turns on and off in response to
environmental influences
 GENOTYPE – person’s total genetic endowment
o Except for identical twins
o No 2 humans even begin life with the same
endowment
 PHENOTYPE – the observed structural and functional
characteristics that result from an interaction of the
genotype and the environment
 GENOTYPE-ENVIRONMENT CORRELATION – when the
genotype shows the environmental experiences a child has
is this way
o 3 IMPORTANT WAYS IN WHICH AN INDIVIDUAL’S
GENOTYPE MAY SHAPE HIS ENVIRONMENT:
1) The child’s genotype may have what has been
termed a PASSIVE EFFECT pm the environment,
resulting from the genetic similarity of parents
and children
 2) The child’s genotype may evoke particular kinds
of reactions from the social and physical
environment – EVOCATIVE EFFECT
3) The child’s genotype may play a more active role
in shaping the environment – ACTIVE EFFECT
(the child seeks out or builds an environment
that is congenial – NICHE BUILDING)
 GENOTYPE-ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTION – people with
different genotypes may be differently sensitive of
susceptible to their environment
 BEHAVIOR GENETICS – field that focuses of studying the
heritability of mental disorders as well as other aspects of
psychological functioning:
1) FAMILY HISTORY/PEDIGREE METHOD – requires
that an investigator observe samples of relatives of
each proband or index case (the subject or carrier
or the trait or disorder in question) to see whether
the incidence increases in proportion to the degree
of hereditary relationship
2) TWIN METHOD –
o IDENTICAL/MONOZYGOTIC TWINS – share
the same genetic endowment because they
develop from a single zygote or fertilized egg
o If a given disorder or trait were completely
heritable, one would expect the
CONCORDANCE RATE – the percentage of
twins sharing the disorder or trait – to be 100
%  The temperament of an infant or young child has profound
o If one identical twin had a particular
disorder, the other twin would as well
o NONIDENTICAL/DIZYGOTIC TWINS – do nto
share any more genes than do siblings from
the same parents because they develop from
2 different fertilized eggs
o They do not have the same concordance rate
3) ADOPTION METHOD – capitalizes on the fact that
adoption creates a situation in which individuals
who do not share a common family environment
are nonetheless genetically related
 SHARED ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCE – are those that
would make the children in a family more similar whether
the influence occurs within the family
 NONSHARED ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCE – are those I
which the children in a family differ
 Nonshared influences have appeared o be more important
 Linkage analysis and association studies attempt to
determine the actual location of genes responsible for
mental disorders which could provide promising leads for
new forms of treatment and even prevention of those
disorders
 LINKAGE ANALYSIS – studies of mental disorders capitalize
on several currently known locations on chromosomes of
genes for other inherited physical characteristics of
biological processes
o Have been most successful in locating the genes for
single-gene brain disorders
 ASSOCIATION STUDIES – start with two large groups of
individuals, one group with and one group without a given
disorder; researchers compare the frequencies in these 2
groups of certain genetic markers that are known to be
located on particular chromosomes
c) TEMPERAMENT
 Refers to a child’s reactivity and characteristic ways of self-
regulation
 There is a difference in their characteristic emotional and
arousal responses
 These behaviors are strongly influenced by genetic factors
 Our early temperaments in thought to be the basis from
which our personality develops
 5 DIMENSIONS OF TEMPERAMENT:
1) FEARFULNESS
2) IRRITABILITY AND FRUSTRATION
3) POSITIVE AFFECT
4) ACTIVITY LEVEL
5) ATTENTIONAL PERSISTENCE AND EFFORTFUL
CONTROL
 3 IMPORTANT DIMENSIONS OF ADULT PERSONALITY
1) NEUROTICISM – negative emotionality; fearfulness
and irritability
2) EXTRAVERSION – positive emotionality; positive
affect and activity level
3) CONSTRAINT – conscientiousness and
agreeableness; attentional persistence and
effortful control
 At least some aspects of temperament show a moderate
degree of stability from late in the first year of life though
at least middle childhood although temperaments can also
change
effects on a variety of important developmental processes
 Temperament may also set the stage for the development
of various forms of psychopathology late in life
 BEHAVIORALLY INHIBITED – children who are fearful and
hypervigilant in many novel or unfamiliar situations
 BAHAVIORANLLY UNINHIBITED – showing little fear of
anything may have difficulty leaning moral standards of
their behavior from parents or society
d) BRAIN DYSFUNCTION AND NEURAL PLASTICITY
 Specifi brain lesions with observable defects in brain tissue
are rarely a primary cause of psychiatric disorder
 NEURAL PLASTICITY – flexibility of the brain in making
changes in organization and function in response to pre
and postnatal experiences, stress, diet, disease, drugs,
maturation and so forth
 Existing neural circuits can be modified or neural circuits
can be generated
 Effects can either be beneficial or detrimental
 DEVELOPMENTAL SYSTEMS APPROACH – acknowledges
not only that genetic activity influences neural activity
which in turn influences behavior which in turn influences
environment but also that these influences are
bidirectional
 Biological treatments seem to have more immediate
results than other variable therapies, and the hope is that
they may in most cases lead to a cure-all – immediate
results with seemingly little effort
 The effects of psychological events are always mediates
though the activities of the CNS because all our behaviors
beliefs, emotions and cognitions are ultimately reducible
to a set of biological events in the brain
 MEDIATE – a mediator lies between two other variables
and helps explain the relationship between them
2. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL VIEWPOINTS
 There are more psychological than biological
interpretations of abnormal behavior
 They all emphasize the importance of early experience and
an awareness of psychological processes within an
individual as well as how these are influenced by social
factors
 3 PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN NATURE AND BEHAVIOR:
a) THE PSYCHODYNAMIC PERSPECTIVES
 PSYCHOANALYTIC SCHOOL – emphasized the role of
unconscious motives and thoughts and their dynamic
interrelationships in the determination of both normal and
abnormal behavior
 UNCONSCIOUS – key concept
 FREUD: the conscious part represents a relatively small area,
the unconscious part is the much larger portion
o He believed that unconscious material continues to
seek expression and emerges in fantasies, dreams,
slips of the tongue and so forth
 FUNDAMENTALS OF FREUD’S PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY
o STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY
 A person’s behavior results from the interaction
of 3 kay components of the personality of the
psyche: ID, EGO, SUPEREGO
 ID – source of instinctual drives and it the first
structure to appear in infancy
* Operates on the PLEASURE PRINCIPLE –
engaging in completely selfish and pleasure-
oriented behavior, concerned only with the
immediate gratification of instinctual needs
without reference to reality or moral
considerations
* Can generate mental images and wish
fulfilling fantasies – PRIMARY PROCESS
THINKING – it cannot undertake the realistic
actions needed to meet instinctual demands
NEWER PSYCHODYNAMIC PERSPECTIVES
* LIBIDO – basic emotional and psychic energy
of life
* LIFE INSTINCTS – constructive drives
primarily of a sexual nature and which
constitute the libido
* DEATH INSTINCT – destructive drives that
tend toward aggression, destruction and
eventual death
* Id demands are as inherently in conflict with
the rules and prohibitions imposed by society
 EGO – Mediates between the demands of the id
and the realities of the external worlds; basic
function if to meet the id’s demands but in such a
way as to ensure the well-being and survival of
the individual; role requires the reason and other
intellectual resources in dealing with the external
world as well as the exercise of control over id
demands
* SECONDARY PROCESS THINKING – Ego’s
adaptive measures
* Operates on the REALITY PRINCIPLE
 SUPEREGO – outgrowth of internalizing the
taboos and moral values of society concerning
what is right and wrong; conscience; becomes an
inner control system that deals with the
uninhibited desires of the id; executive branch of
personality
 INTRAPSYCHIC CONFLICTS – arise when the 3
subsystems are striving for different goals
o ANXIETY, DEFENSE MECHANISMS AND THE UNCONSCIOUS
 ANXIETY – generalized feelings of fear and
apprehension; universal symptom of neurotic
disorders; overtly experienced or repressed accdg
to freud; warning of impending real or imagined
dangers
 EGO DEFENSE MECHANISMS – Ego resorts to
irrational protective measures; discharge of
soothe anxiety; rults to a distorted view of reality
o PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES OF DEV’T
 Each stage is characterized by a dominant more of
achieving libidinal pleasures
 ORAL – mouth; sucking
 ANAL – anus, toilet training
 PHALLIC – self-manipulation of the genitals
 LATENCY – developing skills and other
activities
 GENITAL – sexual relations
 Appropriate gratification during each stage if
important of a person is to avoid being tuck of
fixated
o OEDIPUS COMPLEX AND ELECTRA COMPLEX
 One of the most important conflicts occurs during
the PHALLIC stage, when the pleasures of self-
stimulation and accompanying fantasies pave way
for Oedipus complex
 OEDIPUS COMPLEX – he longs for his mother
sexually and views his father as a hatred rival; he
also fears that his father will punish his son’s lust
by cutting off his penis – CASTRATION ANXIETY
 ELECTRA COMPLEX – each girl desires to possess
her father and to replace her mother
 PENIS ENVY – wishing she could be more like her
father and bothers
 EGO PSYCHOLOGY – psychopathology develops when the
ego does not function adequately to control or delay impulse
gratification or does not make adequate use of defense
mechanisms when faces with internal conflicts
o refined and elaborated on the ego-defense
mechanisms and put the ego in the foreground, giving
it an important organizing role in personality
development
 OBJECT RELATIONS THEORY – focus on individuals’
interactions with the real and imagined other people and on
the relationships that people experience between their
external and internal objects
o OBJECT – refers to the symbolic representation of
another person in he infant’s or child’s environment,
most often a parent
o INTROJECTION – a child symbolically incorporates onto
his personality important people of his life
o BORDERLINE PERSONALITY – chief characteristic is
instability, individuals who are unable to achieve a full
and stable personal identity because of an inability to
integrate and reconcile pathological internalized
objects
INTERPERSONAL PERSPECTIVE
 Focused on social determinants of behavior
 Psychopathology is rooted in the unfortunate tendencies we
have developed while dealing with our interpersonal
environments
 ADLER: people are inherently social beings motivated
primarily by the desire to belong to and participate in a
group
 FROMM: focused on the orientations or dispositions that
people adopted in their interactions with others
 HORNEY: independently developed a similar view and
vigorously rejected freud’s demeaning psychoanalytic view of
women
 ERIKSON: elaborated and broadened freud’s psychosexual
stages into more socially oriented concepts, describing crises
or conflicts that occurred at 8 stages
 ATTACHMENT THEORY – emphasizes the importance of early
experience especially early experience with attachment
relationships; stresses the importance of parental care to the
development of secure attachments
b) BEHAVIORAL PERSPECTIVE
 The study of subjective experience did not provide
acceptable scientific data because such observations were
not open to verification by other investigators
 Only the study of directly observable behavior and of the
stimuli and reinforcing conditions that control it could serve
as a basis for understanding human behavior
 LEARNING – modification of behavior as a consequence of
experience; central theme of behavioral approach
 CLASSICAL CONDITIONING – a specific stimulus may come to
elicit a specific response
o Hallmark is that a formerly neural stimulus acquires
the capacity to elicit biologically adaptive responses
though repeated pairings
o Classically conditioned responses are well maintained
over time; they are not simply forgotten
o EXTINCTION – if a CS is repeatedly presented without
the UCS the conditioned response gradually
extinguishes
o SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY – idea of unlearning
because we know that the response may return at
some future point in time
 INSTRUMENTAL/OPERANT CONDITIONING – an individual
learns how to achieve a desired goal
o REINFORCEMENT – either the delivery of a reward of
pleasant stimulus or to the removal of or escape from
an aversive stimulus
o RESPONSE OUTCOME EXPECTANCY – simple
strengthening of a stimulus response connection every
time that reinforcement occurred
 GENERALIZATION – when a response is conditioned to one
stimulus or set of stimuli, it can be evoked by other, similar
stimuli
o Enables us to use past experiences in sizing up new
situations, the possibility of making inappropriate
generalizations always exist
 DISCRIMINATION – occurs when a person learns to
distinguish between similar stimuli and to respond differently
to them based on which ones are followed by reinforcement
 OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING – learning through observation
alone, without directly experiencing an unconditioned
stimulus or a reinforcement
c) COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL PERSPECTIVE
 COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY – involves the study of basic
information processing mechanisms such as attention and
memory
 INTERNAL REINFORCEMENT – human beings regulate
behavior by internal symbolic process
 SELF EFFICACY – belief that one can achieve desired foals
 COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL PERSPECTIVE – generally focuses on
how thoughts and information processing can become
distorted and lead to maladaptive emotions and behavior
 SCHEMA – underlying representation or knowledge that
guides the current processing of information and often leads
to distortions in attention, memory and comprehension
 People develop different schemas based on their
temperament, abilities and experiences
o Vital to our ability to engage in effective and organized
behavior because they enable us to focus on the most
relevant and important bits of information among the
amazingly complex array of information that is
available to our senses
o Also sources of psychological invulnerabilities
o We often hold them with conviction making them
resistant to change
 SELF SCHEMAS – include our views on who we are, what we
might become, and what is important to us; concern our
notions of the various roles we occupy or might occupy in
our social environment
 ASSIMILATION – we tend to work new experiences into our
existing cognitive frameworks even if new information has to
be reinterpreted of distorted to make it fit
 We are likely to cling to existing assumptions and to reject or
distort new information that contradicts them
 ACCOMMODATION – changing our existing frameworks to
make it possible to incorporate new information that doesn’t
fit; basic goal of therapies
 ATTRIBUTION – process of assigning causes to things that
happen
 CAUSAL ATTRIBUTION – help us explain our own or other
people’s behaviors ad make it possible to predict what we or
others are likely to do in the future
 ATTRIBUTIONAL STYLE – characteristic way in which an
individual tends to assign causes to bad or good events
 SELF-SERVING BIAS – they are more likely to make internal
stable and global attributions for positive rather than
negative events
2. PSYCHOLOGICAL CAUSAL FACTORS
 We begin life with few built- in patterns and a great capacity
to learn from experience
 One child’s life may be vastly different from another’s; they
can be predictable or controllable
 Different experiences have corresponding effects on the
adult’s schema about the world and self
 A person exposed to the same frequency and intensity of
negative outcomes that are predictable and/or controllable
will experience less stress and be less likely to develop
anxiety or depression
 PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS – developmental influences (often
unpredictable and uncontrollable negative events) that may
handicap a person psychologically, making him/her less
resourceful in coping with events
 Psychological causal factors do not operate alone, they
interact with each other
FOUR CATEGORIES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CAUSAL FACTORS:
1. EARLY DEPRIVATION OR TRAUMA
 Children who do not have resources that are typically
supplied by parents may be left with deep and
irreversible psychological scars
 Most severe manifestations are seen among
abandoned or orphaned children; however it can also
occur in intact families where parents are unable or
unwilling to provide nurturing
 Deprivation may result in fixation, interfere with
development of basic trust, retard attainment of
needed skills or might result to acquiring of
dysfunctional schemas
INSTITUTIONALIZATION:
 Many children raised in an institution show severe
emotional, behavioural, and learning problems
 The earlier the child gets adopted (lesser time
spent in an institution) the better they did in the
future
NEGLECT AND ABUSE AT HOME
 Most infants subjected to parental deprivation
suffer from maltreatment at home
 Neglect can be physical, denial of love and
affection, lack of interest and supervision in child’s
activities, failure to spend time with child
 Abuse involve cruel treatment in the form of
emotional, physical, or sexual; associated with
many negative effects on their emotional,
intellectual and physical development; abused
children tend to be overly aggressive
 DISORGANIZED & DISORIENTED STYLE OF
ATTACHMENT – characterized by insecure,
disorganized, inconsistent behaviour with primary
caregiver
 Effects of early abuse may endure into adolescence
and adulthood
SEPARATION
 Short-term (acute) effects of separation from
parents include significant despair during
separation as well as detachment upon reunion
 Long term effects depend heavily on whether
support and reassurance are given by parents or
other significant people
2. INADEQUATE PARENTING STYLES
 Deviations in parenting can have profound effects
on child’s ability to cope with life’s challenges and
thus can create vulnerability to psychopathology
PARENTAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
 Parents who have various forms of psychopathology
tend to have on or more children who are at
heightened risk for developmental difficulties
PARENTING STYLES:
 Reflects attitudes and values expressed toward a
child in different settings
 Parenting styles can also have significant impact on
children’s development and increase risk for
psychopathology
 PARENTAL WARMTH – amount of support,
encouragement and affection
 PARENTAL CONTROL – extent of discipline and
monitoring
 AUTHORITATIVE – high in warmth and control;
associated with positive social development;
effective in promoting resilience
 AUTHORITARIAN – high in control but low on
warmth; children tend to be conflicted, irritable and
moody
 PERMISSIVE/INDULGENT – high on warmth but low
on control; associated with impulsive and aggressive
behaviour
 NEGLECTFUL/UNINVOLVED – low on warmth and
control; parents tend to be disengaged and not
supportive; associated with disruptions in
attachment and conduct problems
3. MARITAL DISCORD AND DIVORCE
 Discord is likely to be frustrating, hurtful, generally
damaging in its effects on both adults and children
 Divorced and separated persons are
overrepresented among psychiatric patients; major
source of psychopathology
 Divorce can be traumatic for children; feeling of
insecurity and rejection may be aggravated
4. MALADAPTIVE PEER RELATIONS
 Important peer relationships usually begin in
preschool years
 EMPATHY – appreciation of another’s situation,
perspective and feelings
 PROACTIVE AGGRESSION – initiate aggressive
behaviour
 RECATIVE AGGRESSION – overreact when
confronted
 CYBERBULLYING – sending offensive, harassing
and intimidating messages on the internet
 Peer relations can be difficult but they can also
be sources of key learning experiences
SOURCES OF POPULARITY VS. REJECTION
 Two types of popular children:
 PROSOCIAL– communicate with peers in friendly
and assertive yet cooperative ways
 ANTISOCIAL – tend to be “tough boys”; highly
aggressive and defiant of authority
 Two types of rejected children:
 Aggressive children take an excessively
demanding or aggressive approach when
interacting with peers
 Withdrawn children may become chronic victim
of rejection; highly unassertive and quite
submissive towards peers
 A child who fails to establish satisfactory
relationships with peers during developmental
years is deprived of a crucial set of background
experiences and is at higher risk for negative
outcomes
3. SOCIOCULTURAL VIEWPOINT
 Individual personality development reflects larger society
as well as immediate family and other groups
 Patterns of both physical and mental disorders within a
given society could change over time as sociocultural
conditions change
 Sociocultural viewpoint is concerned with impact of
culture and other features of the social environment on
mental disorders
  MINNESOTA MULTIPHASIC PERSONALITY INVENTORY  1/3 of homeless people are affected by severe
(MMPI) – best validated and most widely used test that mental illness
has been adapted for use in many cultures  Major stressors experienced by them create
 Sociocultural factors often influence which disorders mental distress
develop
 There also entire patterns of symptoms which are unlike IMPACT OF SOCIOCULTURAL VIIEWPOINT
the patterns in other cultures around the world  Sociocultural research has led to programs designed to
 HIKKO MORI – disorder of acute social withdrawal in improve social conditions that foster maladaptive
Japan, in which young people just remain in their room behaviour and mental disorder
and refuse social interaction for 6 months
 ZAR – North Africa and Middle East; person believes that
he or she is being possessed by a spirit
 UNDERCONTROLLED BEHAVIORS – aggression,
disobedience, disrespectful acts
 OVERCONTROLLED BEHAVIOR – shyness, anxiety,
depression
 Cultural differences in psychopathology may also result
from differences in what cultures consider to be ideal
kinds of parent-child attachment relationships

3. SOCIOCULTURAL CAUSAL FACTORS

 Each sociocultural group fosters its own cultural patterns by
systematically teaching offspring; all members tend to be
somewhat alike
 There are many sources of pathogenic social influences
1. LOW SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS
 The lower socioeconomic status the higher incidence
of mental and physical disorder
 People who live in poverty encounter more severe
stressors and have fewer resources for dealing with
them
 Financial difficulties often resulting from
unemployment lead to elevated levels of distress and
mental disorders
 Unemployed fathers are much more likely to engage in
child abuse
2. PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION IN RACE, GENDER AND
ETHNICITY
 Perceived discrimination seems to predict lower levels
of well-being for women
 Prejudice against minority groups may also explain
increased prevalence of certain mental disorders;
discrimination serves as stressor
 There are two types of discrimination in
workplace:
 ACCESS DISCRIMINATION – women are not hired
because they are women
 TREATMENT DISCRIMINATION – women are paid
less and receive fewer opportunities
3. SOCIAL CHANGE AND UNCERTAINTY
 Constantly trying to keep up with numerous
adjustments demanded by changes in life is a
source of considerable stress
4. URABN STRESSORS: VIOLENCE AND HOMELESSNESS
 Rapid urban growth is occurring worldwide, it is
frequently unregulated, chaotic; these areas are
also plagued by high prevalence of mental
disorders
 Domestic violence against women and children
is widespread and such violence take its toll on
the victims; increased rate in anxiety, PTSD,
depression and suicidality
 Homelessness is another severe stress in urban
areas