Lesson 3: Statistical Infrequency (SI)

Question 1

What is statistical infrequency?

Answer 1

Statistical infrequency occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic, for example, being more depressed or less intelligent than most of the population. Any person who is not within the main average percentages and fits at the rails is seen as abnormal.

Question 2

Strengths of statistical infrequency (real-life application)

Answer 2

• SI definition of abnormality has a real life application to the diagnosis of intellectual disability disorder. It allows for the measurement of the severity of different symptoms. For example, if an individual is given an IQ test and their result is not falling in the ‘normal distribution’, so someone has an IQ of 70 but the normal IQ is 100 we will then be able to diagnose this person as having an intellectual disability disorder. This definition therefore allows us to compare normal against abnormal.

Question 3

Strength of SI (objectivity)

Answer 3

• using this definition is a way of collecting data about a behaviour or characteristic, once this has been determined a ‘cut-off’ point can be agreed it therefore becomes an objective way of deciding who is abnormal because they either fit in or don’t fit in the average percentage.
• no bias

Question 4

Weakness of SI (unusual characteristics)

Answer 4

• definition states that if you don’t fall in the main percentage of the population (68%) then you are abnormal. However, there are some people for example, whose IQ scores are over 130. Clearly, these people are not abnormal but super intelligent.
• we do not think of super-intelligence as being an undesirable characteristic that needs treatment. Just because very few people display a behaviour doesn’t mean that the behaviour requires treatment.
• just because very few people display a behaviour doesn’t mean that the behaviour requires treatment. Therefore an individual not fitting into the normal statistics can be seen as a positive thing but this definition does not acknowledge this

Question 5

Weakness of SI (label)

Answer 5

• not everyone unusual benefits from a label
• if someone is living a happy, fulfilled life there is no benefit to them being labelled as abnormal regardless of how unusual they are.
• being labelled as abnormal may be negative if it causes others or themselves to view them differently, could create a self-fulfilling prophecy whereby individual starts to believe themselves as being abnormal
• for example if one has a lower IQ and thus seen as abnormal May start setting themselves as ‘mentally inferior’ because their IQ is statistically low. This is not a good thing as the person could start acting inferior and label him-herself as that - leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy of being a failure