Psychology 2310A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Reductionism, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Reinforcement

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2310A/B
• Professor: Katerina Rnic

Document Summary

They integrate most of what is currently known about the phenomena in the simplest way possible (parsimony). They make testable predictions about aspects of the phenomena that were not previously thought of. They make it possible to specify what evidence would deny the theory. General aims of theories about mental disorders: 1. explain the etiology (cause, 2. identify factors that maintain the problem behaviour, 3. predict the course of the disorder, 4. design effective treatments. Factors involved in the etiology of a problem may not be relevant to its maintenance: eg. one may become depressed due to the termination of a signi cant relationship, and maintain their depression due to isolating themself socially. When there is a clear biological cause, environmental manipulations may alleviate or prevent the development of serious symptoms. ), and increased activation of brain regions that control negative emotions.