psychopathology Flashcards
outline definition of abnormality
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One definition of abnormality is known as the deviation from social norm definition. A social norm is an unwritten rule about what is acceptable within a particular society. Therefore, according to this definition, a person is seen as abnormal if their thinking or behaviour violates these social norms of what is acceptable. For example, if someone was walking around the streets of London naked, you might think they were abnormal. However, this same behaviour in a remote African tribe would be considered perfectly normal as part of their culture.
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One issue with this definition of abnormality is that social norms change over time, an issue referred to as hindsight bias. For example, homosexuality was regarded as a mental illness in the UK until 1973, often resulting in institutionalisation, but is now simply considered a variation of normal behaviour. This means that, historically, a reliance upon deviation from social norms as a definition of abnormality may have resulted in violations of human rights where people, by today’s standards, were deemed ‘abnormal’. It could be argued that diagnoses upon these grounds may have been used as a form of social control over minority groups as a means to exclude those who do not conform.
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According to the Failure to Function Adequately (FFA)
definition, a person is considered abnormal if they are unable to cope with the demands of everyday life and live independently in society. Furthermore, to be classified as abnormal, a person’s behaviour should cause personal suffering and distress because of their failure to cope. However, they may also cause distress or discomfort to other people who observe their behaviour. For example, someone who is suffering from depression may struggle to get out of bed in the morning or they may find it difficult to
communicate with their family and friends. Consequently, they would be considered abnormal as their depression is causing an inability to cope with the demands of everyday life (going to work), whilst their behaviour is also causing distress
and discomfort to relatives.
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One weakness of the FFA definition stems from individual differences. For example, one person with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) may exhibit excessive rituals that prevent them from functioning adequately, as they constantly miss work; whereas another person may suffer from the same excessive rituals, but find time to complete their rituals and always attend work on time. Therefore, despite the same psychological and behavioural symptoms, each person would be diagnosed differently according to this definition, thus questioning the validity of this definition. This issue exemplifies the problem of taking a nomothetic approach in psychology. Definitions of abnormality typically take a nomothetic approach and try to identify a list of factors, or symptoms, that can be used to diagnose abnormal behaviour. However, some psychologists, in particular Humanistic psychologists, would argue that this approach ignores the essence of being human (e.g. individual differences) and therefore an idiographic approach to defining abnormality might be more appropriate.
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One strength of the FFA definition is that is takes into account the subjective personal experiences of people. This definition considers the thoughts and feelings of the patient and the issues they are facing and does not simply make a judgement based on a pre‐defined list of symptoms. This suggests that the FFA definition is a useful tool for assessing psychopathological behaviour as it takes into account the effect of a person’s symptoms of their everyday
life.
definition of abnormality jahoda
Jahoda (1958) took a different approach to defining
abnormality, suggesting that abnormal behaviour should be defined by the absence of particular, ideal characteristics. Inother words, behaviours which move away, or deviate, from ideal mental health. Jahoda outlined a series of principles, including: having an accurate view of reality; being able to integrate and resist stress; and being able to master your
environment including love, friendships, work and leisure time. Therefore, if an individual does not demonstrate one of these criteria, they would be classified as abnormal according to this definition.
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One strength of Jahoda’s definition is that it takes a positive and holistic view. Firstly, the definition focuses on positive and desirable behaviours, rather than considering just negative and undesirable behaviour. Secondly, the definition considers the whole person, considering a multitude of factors that can affect their health and well‐being. Therefore, a strength of the deviation from ideal mental health definition of abnormality is that it is comprehensive, covering a broad range of criteria.
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However, one weakness of the deviation from ideal mental health definition is the unrealistic criteria proposed by Jahoda. There are times when everyone will experience stress and negativity, for example, when grieving following the death of a loved one. However, according to this definition, these people would be classified as abnormal, irrespective of the circumstances which are outside their control. With the
high standards set by these criteria, how many need to b absent for diagnosis to occur needs to be questioned.
behavioural approach to explaining phobias a01
The two‐process model suggests that phobias are acquired through classical conditioning: learning by association, and are maintained through operant conditioning: negative reinforcement. According to the theory of classical conditioning, humans can learn to fear an object or stimulus, such as a dog, by forming an association between the object and something which triggers a fear response, for example being bitten. In this example, the dog, which was originally a neutral stimulus, becomes associated with being bitten, which
is an unconditioned stimulus. This pairing leads to the dog becoming a conditioned stimulus, which when encountered will elicit fear, a condition response.
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According to operant conditioning, phobias are negatively reinforced where a behaviour is strengthened, because an unpleasant consequence is removed. For example, if a person with a dog phobia sees one whilst out walking, they might avoid it by crossing the road. This reduces the person’s anxiety and so negatively reinforces their behaviour, making
the person more likely to continue avoiding dogs, thus
maintaining their phobia.
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The behaviourist explanation of phobias is supported by research evidence. Watson & Raynor (1920) demonstrated the process of classical conditioning in the formation of a phobia in Little Albert, who was conditioned to fear white rats. This supports the idea that classical conditioning is involved in acquiring phobias in humans and that generalisation can occur to other phobic stimuli. However, since this was a case study, it is difficult to generalise the findings to other children or even adults due to the unique nature of the investigation.
behavioural approach to explaining phobias
A strength of the behaviourist explanation is its application to therapy. These ideas have been used to develop treatments, including systematic desensitisation and flooding. Systematic
desensitisation helps people to unlearn their fears, using the principles of classical conditioning, while flooding prevents people from avoiding their phobias and stops the negative reinforcement from taking place. These therapies have been successfully used to treat people with phobias, supporting the
effectiveness of the behaviourist explanation in helping
people to overcome their phobias.
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The behaviourist explanation for phobias ignores the role of cognition: phobias may develop because of irrational thinking, not just learning. For example, sufferers of claustrophobia may think: ‘I am going to be trapped in this lift and suffocate’, which is an irrational thought that is not taken into consideration. Consequently, the behaviourist explanation for the development of phobias has been criticised for being
environmentally reductionist, by reducing human behaviour to a simple stimulus–response association. Many psychologists, for example cognitive psychologists, would disagree with this explanation, as they argue that other cognitive factors (e.g. irrational thinking) also play an important role. Furthermore, the cognitive approach has also led to the development of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which is said to be more successful than behaviourist treatments.
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There is a claim that the behavioural approach may not
provide a complete explanation of phobias. For example, Bounton (2007) highlights the fact that evolutionary factors could play a role in phobias, especially if the avoidance of a stimulus (e.g. snakes) could have caused pain or even death to our ancestors. Consequently, evolutionary psychologists suggest that some phobias are not learned but are in fact innate, as they acted as a survival mechanism for our ancestors. This is called biological preparedness (Seligman, 1971) and casts doubt on the two‐process model since it suggests that there is more involved than learning and that some phobias (e.g. snakes) are not learned, but are in fact innate.
behavioural approach to treating phobias a01
There are two behavioural therapies used to treat phobias: systematic desensitisation and flooding. Systematic desensitisation uses counter‐conditioning to help patients ‘unlearn’ their phobias, by eliciting another response: relaxation instead of fear. A patient works with their therapist to create a fear hierarchy, ranking the phobic situation from least to most anxiety‐inducing. The patient is also taught relaxation strategies, such as breathing techniques, to help
them remain calm when exposed to their fear. Finally, the patient works through their fear hierarchy, starting at the bottom, while trying to remain relaxed at each stage. Systematic desensitisation works on the assumption that two emotional states cannot exist at the same time, a theory known as reciprocal inhibition, and eventually relaxation will replace the fear.
