Abnormal Psychology

The History of Abnormal Psychology 29

Neuropsychosocial approach

The view that a psychological disorder arises

from the combined infl uences of neurological,

psychological, and social factors—which

affect and are affected by one another

through feedback loops.

Such icons will be in the margin of the page; the relevant portion of text will also be

highlighted in the margin. Any of the types of factors can spark us to behave in a certain

way or can help us control ourselves so that we do not behave in a certain way.

In short, the neuropsychosocial approach can allow us to understand how neu-

rological, psychological, and social factors—which affect and are affected by one

another through feedback loops—underlie psychological disorders.

In the next chapter, we will discuss the neuropsychosocial approach to psycholog-

ical disorders in more detail, examining neurological, psychological, and social factors

as well as the feedback loops among them. In that chapter, we will also continue our

evaluation of the Beales and the specifi c factors that might contribute to their unusual

behavior. In subsequent chapters, we will consider the stories of various other people.

Chapters 2 though 5 will provide you with knowledge to understand psycho-

pathology in general: neurological, psychological, and social factors that contribute

to psychological disorders (Chapter 2); issues related to diagnosing and assessing

psychopathology (Chapter 3); treating psychological disorders (Chapter 4); and re-

searching psychological disorders (Chapter 5). Chapters 6 through 15 address specifi c

categories of psychological disorders (such as anxiety disorders). The fi nal chapter

(Chapter 16) discusses ethical and legal issues related to psychological disorders.

As you will see in these subsequent chapters, the defi nition of a psychological dis-

order provided earlier in this chapter—a pattern of thoughts, feelings, or behaviors that

causes signifi cant distress, impaired functioning in daily life, and/or risk of harm—forms

the basis for the defi nitions of specifi c disorders. However, we note in Chapter 3 and

other chapters that the extent of distress, impaired functioning, and/or risk of harm that

is required for a diagnosis of a psychological disorder is not always clear. Rather, each

of these three elements exists on a continuum. Two individuals with psychological dis-

orders are likely to have symptoms that refl ect different locations on each continuum.

Key Concepts and Facts About Scientifi c Accounts of Psychological Disorders

• Psychologists Edward Thorndike, John Watson, Clark Hull, and
  B. F. Skinner spearheaded behaviorism, focusing on directly
  observable behaviors rather than unobservable mental pro-
  cesses and mental contents. They investigated the association
  between a behavior and its consequence, and proposed scientifi -
  cally testable mechanisms to explain how maladaptive behavior
  arises. Behaviorism helps explain how maladaptive behavior
  can arise from previous associations with an object, situation,
  or event. Behaviorism led to innovative treatments.


• Ivan Pavlov discovered and investigated what is sometimes referred
  to as Pavlovian conditioning—the process whereby a refl exive be-
  havior comes to be associated with a stimulus that precedes it.
  Pavlovian conditioning helps explain the severe fears and anxieties
  that are part of some psychological disorders: Neutral stimuli that
  have in the past been paired with fear-inducing objects or events
  can subsequently, by themselves, induce fear or anxiety.


• Cognitive psychology has led to the scientifi c investigation of
  mental processes that affect how people pay attention to stim-
  uli and develop biases in what they expect and remember. Such
  biases in turn can confi rm the inaccurate views that perpetuate
  a psychological disorder. Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis each fo-
  cused on how people’s irrational and inaccurate thoughts about
  themselves and the world can contribute to psychological dis-
  orders, and each developed a type of treatment to address the
  irrational and inaccurate thoughts.
  
  
  • Social forces that help explain psychological disorders include
    diffi culties with attachment and the role of relationships in buf-
    fering negative life events.
  
  
  • The discovery of the biological cause of one type of mental
    illness—general paresis—led to investigations into possible
    biological causes of other types of mental illness. Although
    researchers investigate various biological and neurological ab-
    normalities to understand psychopathology, exclusively biological
    explanations ultimately strip mental disorders of the context in
    which they occur and provide a false impression that mental disor-
    ders arise from biological (primarily neurological) factors alone.
  
  
  • Psychological disorders cannot be fully explained by any single
    type of factor or theory. One approach to integrating different
    factors is the diathesis–stress model, which proposes that if a
    person has a predisposition to a psychological disorder, stres-
    sors may trigger its occurrence.
  
  
  • The biopsychosocial approach rests on the idea that both dia-
    thesis and stress can be grouped into three types of factors:
    biological, psychological, and social. As research on biological
    factors associated with psychological disorders has advanced,
    the important effects of the brain on other biological functions
    have become clear. In addition, recent research allows investi-
    gators to begin to understand the feedback loops among the
    three types of factors. For these reasons, this book uses the
    term neuropsychosocial rather than biopsychosocial.