Description:

This class takes a psychopathological approach to abnormal behavior. That is, it focuses on brain and mental mechanisms underlying behavior disorders and their social and physiological causes. The general idea is that abnormal behavior is one of many kinds of individual differences (e.g. personality), that, when explored, can reveal much about human nature.

The course is divided into three parts. The first deals with basic concepts and definitions, history, classification and assessment/diagnosis. The second focuses on four major theoretical perspectives on psychopathology: environmental causality (ÒecopathologyÓ), mental mechanisms (conditioning, cognition, and psychodynamics), heredity, and brain mechanisms. The third section is devoted to specific disorders in particular, organic, schizophrenic, affective (mood), neurotic (anxiety, hysteria), psychopathic (antisocial), and addictive disorders. Video and audio tapes are used to provide concrete examples of different mental disorders discussed in lectures and in the textbook.

While the textbook is more comprehensive, the lectures focus on questions of mechanisms and etiology (origins) more than clinical issues of diagnosis and therapy. Special emphasis is given to biopsychological factors (in particular, heredity) that interacting with prenatal and/or social factors, influence the risk for illness (liability). Regardless of emphasis, the course rests primarily on scientific evidence, though a certain amount of speculation is allowed given the many uncertainties which still exist regarding major mental disorders.

Texts:

Willerman, L. & Cohen, D.B. Psychopathology. 1990
Cohen, D.B. Out of the blue: Depression and human nature. 1994

Grading and Requirements:

Exams: 3
Final: comprehensive

Prerequisites:

Psychology 301 with a grade of C or better, Psychology 418 or an equivalent statistics course with a grade of C or better, and upper division standing.

Updated 16 June 1998
Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts
University of Texas at Austin

Some graphics courtesy of Ann Pommerehn