Spring 2009
CBD Integrative Seminar on Psychopathology
Wednesday 12:00-2:50 Franz 3534
Anthropology M293S/Ap&TESL M233/Educ M286/Psych M247
Adriana Galvan
Office Hours: Tuesday 2-3pm
Franz 2263B
Anna Lau
Office Hours: Thursday 1-2pm
Franz 1243B
This course will examine how diverse disciplines–clinical psychology, developmental psychology, cognitive neuroscience and anthropology—examine neural, developmental and cultural perspectives on psychopathology. Topics we will discuss include socioemotional development from a cross-cultural perspective, culturally-sensitive interventions, the effects of early adverse experience on social and brain development, atypical brain development and developmental psychopathology.
*Public Forum from 12-1:15pm
Readings available to registered students on the class website
January 7
Introduction: Perspectives in Developmental Psychopathology
Anna Lau, PhD. and Adriana Galvan, PhD.
January 14
Culture and Developmental Psychopathology
Anna Lau, PhD.
January 21
Neural Systems and Developmental Psychopathology
Adriana Galvan, PhD.
January 28
How Social Experience Gets Under the Skin: Learning, Emotion and Child Development
Guest Speaker: Seth D Pollack, PhD.
Letters & Science Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Professor of Anthropology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin at Madison
How are complex sets of neural circuitry shaped and refined by the nature of the social and emotional experiences that children encounter in their early environments? To address questions about the role of social experience on the development of brain-behavior relations, my students and I have focused upon populations of children and nonhuman primates who have endured atypical caregiving. In this presentation, I will highlight the ways in which studying these children helps to address issues including (1) neurobiological and evolutionary perspectives on the development of emotion regulation, (2) the developmental processes underlying sensitivity o contextual or environmental influences, and (3) defining and specifying ways in which the environment creates long-term effects on brain and behavior.
February 4
40 years of silence: An Indonesian tragedy
Guest Speaker: Robert Lemelson, PhD.
Research Anthropologist, Department of Psychiatry, NPI-Semel Institute for Neuroscience, Center for Culture and Health, UCLA
NOTE: Lecture will take place from 12:00 - 2:00 PM
Directed by documentary filmmaker and world renowned-psychological anthropologist Robert Lemelson, "40 Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy" is the moving feature length documentary film about one of the most horrific chapters in Indonesia's history. In one of the largest unknown mass-killings of the 20th century, an estimated 500,000 to 1,000,000 people were secretly and
systematically killed in 1965, when General Suharto began a bloody purge of suspected "communists" throughout Indonesia. Wielding his growing influence through a complex and highly contested series of events to install his New Order regime, Suharto ultimately gained power and the presidency of the country. Under his authoritarian rule, any discussion, recognition or memorializing of the mass killings that differed from the Suharto's official state narrative was quickly suppressed.
"40 Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy" follows the compelling testimonies of four individuals and their families from Central Java and Bali, two regions heavily affected by the purge. As they break their silence publicly for the first time, each family provides an intimate and frightening look at what it was like for survivors of the mass-killings. In chilling detail, they describe the events of 1965 through their own experiences, re-living and reflecting upon the stigmatization and brutalization they continue to endure on both the village and state levels. Over time, the survivors and their families attempt to find ways to deal with a tragedy that was, and is still not, openly recognized by their neighbors, government or the world.
Through their stories, the audience will come to understand modern-day Indonesia's potential for retribution, rehabilitation and reconciliation within this troubled historical context. "40Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy" was produced by Lemelson's Elemental Productions. Based in Los Angeles, Elemental Productions is dedicated to the production of ethnographic documentaries focusing on the relationship between culture, psychology and personal experience in Indonesia
and the United States.
February 11
Brain Imaging of Reward Processing and its Relation to Social Cognition
Guest Speaker: Susan Y Bookheimer, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience, UCLA
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in language and social communication with the presence of repetitive and stereotyped motor behaviors. Appropriate social behaviors are rarely explicitly taught, and likely acquired through reward-based implicit learning mechanisms. The shared neural substrate for pro-social behaviors and reward networks has been examined in animal models as well as in humans. In this talk I will discuss the relationship between reward processing and social learning in a sample of children with social deficits; children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Our data suggest a diminished neural response to both reward types in ASD, as well as a further deficit in frontostriatal response during social rewarded learning, supporting a relationship between rewarded implicit learning for the development of social behaviors. Moreover, we show a relationship between ventral striatum response to social rewards and the level of reciprocal social behaviors in typically developing (TD) children. Finally, we provide preliminary evidence that the autism risk gene CNTNP2 is expressed in frontal lobe and striatum in fetal brain, and correlates with abnormal activity in fronto-striatal circuits during in reward processing tasks in children with autism. The data together suggest a neural basis supporting the social motivation deficit hypothesis of autism.
February 18
Social Functioning and Adjustment in Chinese and North American Children: A Contextual-Developmental Perspective
Guest Speaker: Xinyen Chen, PhD.
University of Western Ontario
My talk will focus on children's socioemotional functioning from a contextual-developmental perspective. I will discuss some theoretical issues concerning cultural involvement in children’s socioemotional functioning and the mediating role of social interactions and relationships in cultural processes. Then, I will present findings from the projects my collaborators and I have been conducting over the past 15 years in Chinese and Canadian children. Whereas the projects tap broad aspects of socioemotional characteristics and relationships, I will focus on shyness-inhibition in childhood and adolescence and its functional meanings in social and psychological adjustment in different societies. I will also present the results of recent studies concerning the implications of the macro-level societal change in China for children’s socioemotional functioning and adjustment.
February 25
Neuro- and Behavioral Development Following Early Life Stress
Nim Tottenham, PhD.
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, UCLA
Early adversity, for example poor caregiving, can have profound effects on emotional development. Orphanage rearing, even in the best circumstances, lies outside of the bounds of a species-typical caregiving environment. Children who have experienced this type of care often have particular difficulty in socio-emotional domains. This talk will describe the developmental trajectory of socio-emotional behaviors and associated neuro-development in a population of previously institutionalized (PI) children using behavioral, structural and functional neuroimaging (MRI), and eyetracking methodology. Changes in limbic circuitry may underlie residual emotional and social problems experienced by children who have been internationally adopted. This talk should appeal to those interested in socio-emotional information processing and the neurobiology of emotions across development.
March 4
Family-Based Strategies to Promote Resilience of Mexican American Youth
Nancy Gonzales, PhD.
Women and Philanthropy Distinguished Professor, Department of Psychology, Arizona State University
Compared to the general population and other minority groups, Mexican origin youth are at substantially increased risk for school dropout and related mental health and substance use disorders. Effective prevention strategies are critically needed to reduce these disparities and their long-term personal and public health burden. In this presentation, Dr. Gonzales will summarize findings from a randomized trial of the Bridges to High School Program / Puentes a la Secundária. Bridges / Puentes is a culturally competent, school-based, family-centered intervention designed for junior high schools students to reduce school disengagement and mental health and substance use disorders in high school and early adulthood. The trial was implemented in 7th grade with 516 Mexican origin adolescents. Positive program effects occurred at posttest on multiple individual and family processes that were proximal intervention targets. Follow-up analyses showed these experimentally-induced changes accounted for significantly lower levels of substance use, deviant peer association, externalizing and internalizing symptoms in 8th and 9th grade. Program benefits were stronger for less acculturated adolescents and for those at higher initial risk. The presentation will describe the underlying theory of the intervention, strategies to maximize its cultural sensitivity, program moderators and mediators, and future plans to examine long-term effects extending to emerging adulthood.
March 11
Summary/Applications of Course Content
Course Responsibilities
Each week students will be required to write one paragraph summarizing points of interest to you and 2-3 questions based on the reading. Please send your summary paragraph and questions by noon on the Tuesday before class by email to Anna and Adriana.
Students should come to class prepared to discuss central ideas of the readings and propose innovative applications based on the readings.
Students who are currently undertaking research focused on psychopathology or related to psychopathology will be invited to present some of their (proposed)work in the final class.
Final Paper
The final paper can take various forms. It can be a research proposal of approximately 10 pages, an integrative essay linking topics across the culture, brain, and development studies presented in class, or a proposal for an applied project (e.g., used for intervention). In each format, provide a short review of the literature so that your project is grounded in the course materials.
