Week 2 – Forensics
Paradigms, Classification and Clinical Assessment Methods
Basic lecture notes that need more research and detail through individual study
Enjoy I guess
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What is a paradigm?
- A set of basic assumptions.
- A general perspective – how to think about or study a topic.
- Thomas Samuel Kuhn (1922–96) wrote the seminal text 'The Structure of Scientific Revolution' (1962).
- Introduced the term 'Paradigm shift' - a gradual change in concepts.
Adoption of a paradigm
- Explain how and why each might be used.
- Affects how scientist-practitioner works - influences assessment and treatment.
- Can restrict, limit, bias a clinician's remit.
- Risk that scientific research can never be completely objective, despite claims to the contrary.
Paradigms in psychopathology
- Biological – Medical Model
- Psychological Models
o Psychodynamic
o Humanist-Existential
o Behavioural
o Cognitive
o Cognitive-Behavioural
- Diathesis-stress
- Biopsychosocial
- Psychobiosocial (Kinderman, 2014)
Factors which cut across paradigms
1. Emotions
- Influence how we respond to problems & challenges.
- Shape and guide thoughts and behaviour.
- Emotional regulation and self-control.
2. Sociocultural factors
- Gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, religious and spiritual beliefs.
3. Interpersonal Factors
- Family/friends - social contact and support.
BiologicalParadigm
· Psychopathology results from alterations in biological processes – genetics, biochemistry, brain structure and function, neuroendocrine system.
· Focusing on 2 main areas today:
a) Genetics
b) Biochemistry – Neurotransmitters (NTs)
· Support for Biological Paradigm
a) Heredity and risk of developing schizophrenia.
b) Brain biochemistry involved in symptoms of depression.
c) The nervous system involved in arousal related to anxiety disorders.
Genetics
YOU ARE READING
Psychology
Non-FictionI'm a struggling Psychology student with a lot of time on my hands and this is one of the ways I've been trying to make myself study. Lets hope it works. (This is the real, boring psychology with the essays and the sources and the diagrams, not the...
