PSYCH 412 1ST Edition Lecture 2 Outline of Last Lecture I. Overview of PerspectivesII. Ancient Civilization (pre 5th Century BC)III. Greco-Roman Era (5 BC to 5 AD)IV. Middle Ages and Renaissance (5th – 17th Centuries)V. Age of Enlightenment (18th – 19th Centuries)VI. Modern Thought (20th – 21st Century)Outline of Current Lecture I. Psychological PerspectiveII. Psychodynamic PerspectiveIII. Behavioral ModelsIV. Cognitive PerspectiveCurrent LectureI. Psychological Perspectivea. This perspective is based on how the activity in the brain and nervous system, our hormones, genes, etc.… relate to our behavior and mental processes.b. This is commonly known as the “medical model” of psychopathologyc. There are two different views or explanations for problems within this perspective.i. Structural Problems1. This is where there is an abnormality within the structure of the brain that leads to mental problems. For this problem, doctors study people with certain disorders and look at their brains via MRI and other methods and compare their brains to someone without any mental disorders to see if there were any abnormalities.These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.a. Example: People with schizophrenia have enlarged ventricles in their central brain, this could add to the potential or the severity of the said person’s schizophrenia.2. These abnormalities can come from many different sources such as:a. Injuryb. Complications at birthc. Tumors or other medical problemsd. Stroke e. Seizuresf. Prenatal exposure to toxinsg. Developmental problemsii. Communication Problems1. Communication problems are generally problems with the chemicals and neurotransmitters within the brain.2. To understand how these communication problems can occur we first have to have an overview of the parts of the brain and how the communicate.a. Neuronsi. Neurons are a single cell in the nervous system thatcarry messagesb. Cell Bodyi. This is the control center of the neuronc. Dendritesi. These are very short, branching projections covering the cell body that receive information from adjacent neurons or other types of cells.d. Axoni. These are single fibers that extend away from the cell body and carry information through the neuronto the next neuron(s).e. Synaptic vesiclei. This is a storage sac which contains the neurotransmitters.f. Neurotransmittersi. These are chemicals that transmit information fromone neuron to another. Such as serotonin or dopamine.g. Synapsei. This is a fluid filled space between neurons where the actual transfer of neurotransmitters happensand the neurotransmitters encounter the dendrites of the adjacent neuron.3. Any problems with this system can result in abnormalities with our brain which can cause mental problems.4. Neurotransmitter problemsa. Imbalancesi. Imbalances can lead to abnormalities. If someone has too much or too little of a certain neurotransmitter this can create problems and affect the normal functions of a brain.b. Release problemsi. This can also lead to a disruption of the normal brain functions. By releasing either too much or toolittle of a certain chemical it can result in abnormal responses.c. Re-absorption problemsi. With these types of problems the neurons either don’t re-absorb the neurotransmitter which causes it to stay in the synapse longer and makes the effects of the neurotransmitter last longer. There can also be a problem with the neurons re-absorbing the neurotransmitter too fast which causes there to not be enough response.d. Interferencei. With this something interferes with the function of the neurotransmitters. An example of interference can be psychoactive drugs such a cocaine. These drugs change the normal functions of neurotransmitters and cause an abnormality and disrupt normal functions.5. Genetic Influencesa. Research suggests that most if not all psychological disorders have some sort of genetic components. These genes count for less than half of the explanations for said disorders, but there are of course some exceptions to this. For example, down syndrome is known to be caused by a missing component of their chromosomes6. Diathesis-Stress Theorya. Diathesis is a predisposing biological condition that renders someone more susceptible to developing aparticular disorder. This theory suggests that when a diathesis is combined with a stressor that it activates or creates an illness.b. Diathesis’s do not have to be biologicalc. An example of diathesis is someone who is born with a more reactive nervous system. Due to this, this person reacts more extremely than someone without this problem does, then causing anxiety disorders or depression.d. When considering this you have to account for the environmental stressors that can “activate” the said illnesses and genes.e. There is also evidence that suggests that the makeup of our genes can suggest to how we will live our life and whatstressors we will encounter.7. Limitations to the psychological perspectivea. Not everything is biological, environmental factors matter a lot too but biological factors are more important in certain disorders more so than others.b. There is also the “chicken and the egg” problem cause it is very difficult to prove which problem caused the mental disorder and which came first, the biological factor or the environmental factor.c. Biological intervention, like taking meds, can help the symptoms of the disorder but this does not mean that the problem was completely biological.II. Psychodynamic Perspectivea. This perspective originated with Sigmund Freud and states that observable behavior is primarily a function of internal intrapsychic processes.b. Freud’s Psychodynamic Theoryi. Freud stated that he thought that there were “layers” of consciousness1. Your conscious is the thoughts that are readily available in your brain and you are very aware that they are there.2. Your pre-conscious is thoughts that are not readily available but something can trigger you to think about them.3. You unconscious is thoughts and emotions that you are completely unaware of. These thought and emotions have been “hidden away” in your unconscious due to a number of different circumstances, like these thoughts caused too much anxiety andtrauma so to save you from suffering you brain made the choice tohide these thoughts and memories away in your