PSYB32H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Panic Disorder, Twin Study, Genetic Marker
Document Summary
Chapter 2: current paradigms & the role of cultural factors. Paradigms are a set of basic assumptions that outline the particular universe of scientific inquiry. Paradigms specify what problems scientists will investigate and how they will go about the investigation. It injects inevitable biases into the definition and collection of data and may also affect the o interpretation of facts. o. Biological paradigm- a broad theoretical view that holds that mental disorders are caused by some abberant somatic process or defect. For a time, the germ theory was the paradigm of medicine, but it soon became apparent that this theory could not account for all diseases. More sophisticated approaches are used today, and there is now an extensive literature on biological factors relevant to psychopathology. There are 3 areas of research within this paradigm, in which the data are particularly interested:
