PS280 Study Guide - Final Guide: Mental Disorder, Psychodynamics, Behaviorism
Document Summary
Introduction: a paradigm is a set of basic assumptions, a general perspective that defines how to conceptualize and study a subject, how to gather and interpret relevant data, and even how to think about a particular subject. In each case, the psychopathology is viewed as caused by the disturbance of some biological process. Neuroscience and biochemistry in the nervous system: neuroscience is the study of the brain and the nervous system, neuroscience can come in numerous forms including: Cellular neuroscience: the nervous system is composed of billions of neurons, although neurons differ in some respects, each neuron has four major parts: Several dendrites (the short and thick extensions) One or more axons of varying lengths (usually only on long and thin axon extending a considerable distance from the cell body) If the receptors on the postsynaptic neuron were too numerous or too easily excited, the result would be akin to having too much transmitter released.
