PSYC 235 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Headache, Benzodiazepine
29 Mar 2016
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Document Summary
If you said that a psychopathology was only caused by physical abnormality, you are accepting a one- dimensional approach (an approach that attributes behavior to one single cause). Scientists believe that abnormal behavior is the result of multiple influences. This includes behavioral, biological, emotional, social and developmental influences. In the case of jody, the boy with blood-injection-injury phobia: Behavioral influences: he saw a biology movie scene with blood and had an adverse reaction, so subsequent scenes that were similar evoked the same reaction. This isn"t simple classical conditioning because the other kids in his class didn"t develop the phobia. Biological influences: jody experiences a vasovagal syncope (a common cause of fainting). A vasovagal syncope is the sudden decrease in blood pressure because a mechanism is overreacting to the sudden rise in blood pressure. This tendency to overcompensate for blood pressure increase is hereditary. A blood injury phobia is caused by an interaction of these two factors and other factors.
