The document discusses four major paradigms in psychopathology: biological, psychoanalytic, cognitive, and behavioral. The biological paradigm views abnormal behavior as linked to physical causes and malfunctions in the brain or body. It examines brain structure, biochemistry, genetics, and treats disorders with drugs, electroconvulsive therapy, or psychosurgery. The psychoanalytic paradigm views behavior as linked to underlying psychological forces and examines psychosexual development, fixation at developmental stages, and defense mechanisms. The cognitive paradigm looks at how information is processed and views abnormal behavior as resulting from interpretations and thinking patterns. The behavioral paradigm views abnormal behavior as learned through conditioning or modeling and examines classical and operant conditioning in psychopathology.

1. 9/19/09
PSYC 3553 – Psychopathology
Week 3: Perspectives on Abnormality • September 22, 2009
1
What is a paradigm?
• Framework
• Set of assumptions providing guidelines for research
and practice
• Major schools of thought:
• Biological
• Psychoanalytic
• Behavioural
• Cognitive
The Biological Paradigm
• Also known as the medical or disease model
• Guiding belief: Behaviour is linked to physical
causes, brought on by malfunctioning components
of the body
• In psychopathology, mainly focuses on brain
1

2. 9/19/09
Biological Explanations of
Psychopathology
1. Brain anatomy: problems in brain structure
 Swelling
 Atrophy
e.g.:
 Huntington’s disease & basal ganglia (forebrain) 
motor difficulties
 Stroke & temporal lobe swelling  speech deficits
Biological Perspective:
Structural Abnormalities
5
Parts of the Brain
6
2

3. 9/19/09
Biological Explanations of
Psychopathology
• Biochemistry
• Electrical impulses travel
along neurons
• Reaches the end, releases
neurotransmitters
• The chemicals will either
excites or inhibits the
nearby neurons
Examples of
Neurotransmitters
• Norepinephrine: Arousal  anxiety
• Serotonin: Mood, sleep, hunger  depression
• Dopamine: Movement, pain/pleasure, attention 
schizophrenia
• GABA: Inhibitory neurotransmitter  anxiety
3

4. 9/19/09
Biological Explanations of
Psychopathology
• Also, the endocrine system
• Implicated by working with neurons to release
hormones
• E.g., hippocampus, stress and the release of cortisol
• Memory impairments
Biological Explanations of
Psychopathology
3. Genetics
 Inheriting mutated or
missing genes
 Unable (yet) to identify
specific gene
 Or extent genetic factors
contribute to disorders
E.g.
 Schizophrenia & twin
studies
Biological Explanations of
Psychopathology
• Family method: relatives of the affected individual
• Twin studies: study pairs of MZ and DZ twins
• Adoption studies: study twins in/out of family home
• Linkage analysis: co-occurring genetics (e.g., eye
colour and illness)
4

5. 9/19/09
Biological Treatments
• Three main types of biological treatment:
• Drug therapy (1950s)
• Antianxiety drugs (anxiolytics, tranquilizers)
• Antidepressant drugs
• Antibipolar drugs (mood stabilizers)
• Antipsychotic drugs
• Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
• Psychosurgery (e.g., lobotomy)
Evaluating Biological Paradigm
• Strengths:
• Huge progress on mental illness research
• Respected and accepted by society
• Weaknesses:
• Reductionism – making it too simple
• Inconclusive evidence
• Possibility of negative/severe side effects
5

6. 9/19/09
The Psychoanalytic Paradigm
• Psychotherapy: social therapist-client interaction
• Sigmund Freud: father of psychodynamic theory
and psychoanalytic therapy
• Guiding belief: behaviour is linked to underlying
dynamic psychological forces of which she or he is not
aware
The Psychoanalytic Paradigm
• The id: basic urges for survival (food, water…)
• Direct gratification or by primary process thinking
• The ego: deals with reality
• The superego: conscience
• Healthy personality: compromise between these
forces
The Psychoanalytic Paradigm
• Psychosexual stages of development
• Oral stage: feeding
• Anal stage: bowel movements
• Phallic stage: genital stimulation
• Latency period
• Genital stage: adult sexual impulses
6

7. 9/19/09
Psychodynamic Explanations of
Psychopathology
1. Fixation at a stage
 Unsuccessful
developmental stage
e.g. – Anal retentiveness &
obsession with cleanliness
 OCD?
e.g. – Neurotic anxiety
e.g. – Moral anxiety
Psychodynamic Explanations of
Psychopathology
2. Resolving the Oedipal/Electra complex
• Freud claimed that resolving the complex was
critical…
• …to superego development
• …to future romantic relationship success
• …to future views of intimacy and expression of
sexual desires
Psychodynamic Explanations of
Psychopathology
3. Coping with anxiety – defense mechanisms
• Repression
• Denial
• Projection
• Regression
• Rationalization
7

8. 9/19/09
Variations on Freudian Theory
• Ego theorists
• Emphasize the role of the ego; consider it independent
• Self theorists
• Emphasize unified personality over any one component
• Object-relations theorists
• Emphasize human need for interpersonal relationships
Psychodynamic Therapies
 Classical psychoanalysis: Gain insight into repressed conflicts
and resistances
 Ego analysis: Use classical techniques but focus more on
current living conditions
 Brief psychodynamic therapy: Short-term, target specific
problems
 Interpersonal therapy: Emphasis on present relationships with
others
Assessing Psychoanalytic Paradigm
• Strengths:
• Elevated psychological theories and “internal forces” as
possible cause of illness
• First to apply theory and techniques systematically to
treatment – monumental impact on the field
• Weaknesses:
• Unsupported ideas (anecdotal evidence)
• Lead the client into focusing on certain experiences
• Difficult to research
8

9. 9/19/09
Cognitive & Behavioral Paradigms
• Guiding beliefs:
• Behavioural: abnormal behaviour is learned and
maintained over a time period
• Cognitive: abnormal behaviour results from how a
person attends to, interprets, and uses available
information
• Looking at overt behaviour versus internal
processes
Behavioural Explanations of
Psychopathology
• Classical & operant conditioning, modeling
• John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner, Albert Bandura
• Classical conditioning – Pavlov, Watson
• Events become associated in time, so person reacts
same way to both events
e.g.:
• Phobias – the Little Albert experiment
Example: Classical Conditioning
US UR
Gong Fear
US NS UR
+
Gong Rabbit Fear
CS CR
Rabbit Fear
9

10. 9/19/09
Behavioural Explanations of
Psychopathology
2. Operant conditioning – Thorndike, Skinner
Behaviour associated with reward will be repeated: law of effect
Shaping - successive approximations
e.g.: Conduct disorder and aggressive behaviour
Behavioural Explanations of
Psychopathology
3. Modeling – Bandura
• “Copying” others’ actions
• Attention, retention,
reproduction, motivation
e.g.: Learning from parents…
• …addictive behaviours
• …phobias
Behavioural Therapies
• The goal: identify behaviors causing problems and
replace them with more appropriate ones
• Classical conditioning: systematic desensitization
• Operant conditioning: token economies
• Modeling: role playing
10

11. 9/19/09
Assessing Behavioural Paradigm
• Strengths:
• Powerful force in the field
• Rooted in empiricism
• Significant research support for behavioral therapies
• Weaknesses:
• Too simplistic
• Unrealistic
• Downplays role of cognition
Cognitive Explanations of
Psychopathology
 Schemas: past experiences shape interpretation
 Maladaptive thinking
 Faulty assumptions and attitudes
 Illogical thinking processes
e.g.: overgeneralization – “Bad things ALWAYS happen to
me”
 e.g.: Depression
Cognitive Therapies
• Beck’s cognitive therapy
• Recognize and restructure their thinking
• Ellis: rational emotive therapy
• Eliminate self-defeating beliefs – “musts” & “shoulds”
11

12. 9/19/09
Assessing Cognitive Paradigm
• Strengths:
• Clinically useful and effective therapies
• Focuses on a uniquely human process
• Research-based
• Weaknesses:
• Singular, narrow focus
• Overemphasis on the present
• Verification of cognition is difficult
Integrative Approaches to
Psychopathology
• General framework for psychopathology
• …while also allowing for specification of
factors especially relevant to a particular
disorder
• Often called “eclectic”
• Take strengths from each model, use in combination
Integrative Approaches to
Psychopathology
• The biopsychosocial model
• Interaction of genetic, biological, developmental,
emotional, behavioral, cognitive, social, and societal
influences
• The diathesis-stress approach
• Diathesis = predisposition (bio, psycho, or social)
• Asserts that a predisposition to a disorder is triggered
by an environmental stressor
12

13. 9/19/09
13