title: RDoC and shift of reference.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This paper aims to analyse in a philosophically informed way the recent National Institute of Mental Health proposal for the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Current classification systems have helped unify psychiatry and the conditions that it is most concerned with. However, by relying too much on syndromes and symptoms, they too often do not define stable constructs. As a result, inclusions and removals from the manuals are not always backed by sound reasons. The RDoC framework is an important move towards ameliorating matters. This paper argues that it improves the current situation by re-referencing constructs to physical properties (biomarkers for disorders, for example), by allowing theoretical levels within the framework, and by treating psychiatry as a special case of the cognitive sciences.
authors.affiliation: PhD student, Department of Psychiatry, Austin Health, University of Melbourne, Heidelberg, VIC, Australia; CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, Brasília, Brazil laraujo@student.unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Luis Fs
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Castro-de-Araujo
authors.affiliation: Professor of Philosophy, Macquarie University, Department of Philosophy, North Ryde, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.affiliation: Chair of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Austin Health, University of Melbourne, Heidelberg, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Richard Aa
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Kanaan
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D015415:Biomarkers; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000145:classification / Q000639:trends*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: Research Domain Criteria (RDoC); classification; latent attributes; nosography; nosology