Learning Objectives

Chapter 3

  • Explain how mental disorders can be described in both a categorical and a dimensional manner?
  • Discuss some of the advantages of including underlying processes in the study of psychopathology.
  • Demonstrate the contributions of the DSM and the ICD in improving reliability.
  • Identify three specific ways in which neuroscience approaches have been utilized to classify mental illness and inform its treatment.
  • Describe four of the various neuroscience approaches to study the brain and psychopathology, and describe how they advanced our understanding of psychopathology.
  • Indicate the different parts that form the structure of the neuron and the roles they play.
  • Describe how neurons pass information on to other neurons, and how is that information is encoded.
  • Compare the four major types of brain imaging techniques currently being used, and identify a psychological disorder for which each is especially valuable.
  • Assess how the brain's default or intrinsic network are different from the central executive and salience networks.
  • Describe modularity and connectivity, and how are they important in thinking about psychopathology?
  • Identify the role of neurotransmitters in the development of psychotropic medications to treat mental disorders.
  • Demonstrate the two important principles of Mendelian genetics. Evaluation the evidence that led Mendel to their discovery.
  • Define what genes do and how and where do they do it, as well as the roles of DNA and RNA in that process.
  • Describe three uniquely human characteristics that impact our connectedness to our environment. Propose what role(s) they play in psychopathology.
  • Summarize the five critical questions an evolutionary perspective asks concerning psychopathology.