Assignment #1
This assignment MUST be typed, double-spaced, in APA style, and must be written at graduate-level English.
Use the reading assignments thoroughly in an integrative discussion. Remember to reference all work cited or quoted by the text author. You should be doing this often in your responses. If you use outside resources, they should support the text information, but not replace the text.
Respond to each question in – 1 page per question. Total assignments should be 3-5 pages plus a title and reference page.
1. What is meant by the notion that mental illness is a social construction? How does cross-cultural research suggest that psychopathology is universal rather than a social construction?
2. Discuss two ways that an evolutionary perspective expands our understanding of psychopathology.
3. Describe twin studies and adoption studies. Explain how each type of study contributes to our understanding of the genetic and environmental foundations of behavior.
4. Explain how what is known about the brain bases of memory and the reward system, enhance psychopathologists understanding of mental illness. How do these neuroscientific insights encourage a dimensional approach to psychopathology, rather than the traditional categorical one?
5. What processes and brain structures are involved in the processing of social information, and what do these processes tell us about the role of social skills in our lives?
