APS
2026 APS Annual Convention · 2026
Beyond Lumping: Hierarchical Psychopathology Frameworks Can Improve Classification by Embracing Splitting
- Ashley Watts
Vanderbilt University
Abstract
The value of hierarchical accounts of psychopathology lies in the ability to exploit multiple levels of the hierarchy, but the field has largely prioritized lumping into broad dimensions over splitting into narrower ones. Here, I argue that lumping has slowed classification efforts, obscuring detection of causes, consequences, and treatment targets
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