Psychopathology Flashcards
What is statistical infrequency?
Occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic, for example being more depressed than most of the population.
What is normal distibution?
Where the majority if people’s scores will cluster around the average and the further above or below that average, the fewer people will attain that score.
Relate statistical infrequency to intellectual disability disorder.
The average IQ is set to 100 and 68% of people have a score in the range of 85-115.
Only 2% have a score lower than 70 therefore this would be ‘abnormal’ and so would be able to receive a diagnosis of intellectual disability disorder.
What is deviation from social norms?
It concerns behaviour that is different from the accepted standards of behaviour in a community or society.
How are norms specific to the culture we live in?
Norms may be different between generations and cultures, so there are relatively few behaviours which could be considered universally abnormal on the basis that they breach social norms.
For example, homosexuality was considered abnormal in the past in our culture but is still viewed as abnormal in some countries, such as Brunei.
Relate deviation from social norms to antisocial personality disorder.
A person with antisocial personality disorder is impulsive, aggressive and irresponsible.
According to the DSM-5 one important symptom is ‘absence of prosocial internal standards associated with failure to conform to lawful and culturally normative behaviour’.
Essentially, we make the social judgement that psychopaths are abnormal because they don’t conform to our moral standards.
Does statistical infrequency have real world application?
Yes
Is used in clinical practice, both as part of a formal diagnosis and as a way to assess the severity of symptoms.
An example of statistical infrequency used as an assessment tool would be the Beck depression inventory- a score of 30+ is widely interpreted as indicating severe depression.
What are the benefits and problems of labelling someone as abnormal (statistical infrequency)?
+ Helps them access support, for example someone with a high BDI may benefit from therapy.
- Someone with a low IQ who can cope with their chosen lifestyle may not benefit with a label due to the social stigma attached.
What is a limitation of statistical infrequency?
Infrequent characteristics could be positive as well as negative.
For every person with an IQ below 70 there is someone with an IQ above 130 but not think of someone as abnormal for having a high IQ.
Similarly, we wouldn’t think of someone with a low score on the BDI as abnormal.
This means that although statistical infrequency can form part of assessment and diagnostic procedures, it is never sufficient as the sole basis for defining abnormality.
Does deviation from social norms have real world application?
Yes
Is used in clinical practice.
For example, the key defining characteristic of antisocial personality disorder is the failure to conform to culturally normal ethical behaviour.
Signs of the disorder are all deviations from social norms.
Such norms also play a part in the diagnosis of schizotypal personality disorder where the term ‘strange’ is used to characterise the thinking, behaviour and appearance of people with the disorder.
Relate human rights abuses to deviation from social norms.
Defining someone as abnormal carries the risk of unfair labelling and leaving them open to human rights abuses.
Historically, a diagnosis such as nymphomania (women’s uncontrollable or excessive sexual desire) have been used to control women.
On the other hand it can be argued that we need to be able to use deviation from social norms to diagnose conditions such as antisocial personality disorder.
Name one limitation of deviation from social norms.
The variability between social norms in different cultures and situations.
For example, hearing voices is the norm in some cultures but it would be seen as an abnormality in the UK.
Aggressive and deceitful behaviour in the context of family life is more socially unacceptable than in the context of corporate deal-making.
This means it is hard to judge deviation from social norms across different situations and cultures.
Name the four definitions of abnormality.
- statistical infrequency
- deviation from social norms
- failure to function adequately
- deviation from ideal mental health.
What is failure to function adequately?
Occurs when someone is unable to cope with ordinary demands of day-to-day living.
For example being unable to maintain basic standards of nutrition and hygiene. This can also being unable to hold down a job or maintain relationships.
When is someone failing to function adequately?
Rosenhan and Seligman (1989) proposed additional signs that can be used to determine when someone is not coping.
- When a person experiences severe distress
- No longer conforming to standard interpersonal rules such as maintaining eye contact and respecting personal space.
- When a person’s behaviour becomes irrational or dangerous to themselves or others.
Relate the failure to function adequately with intellectual disability disorder.
To have a diagnosis for intellectual disability disorder, an individual must be failing to function adequately.
What is deviation from ideal mental health?
Occurs when someone does not meet a set of criteria for good mental health.
What does ideal mental health look like?
Marie Jahoda (1958) suggested we are in good mental health if we meet the following criteria-
- No symptoms or distress
- We are rational and can perceive ourselves accurately
- We self-actualise
- Cope with stress
- Realistic view of the world
- Good self-esteem and lack guilt
- Independent of other people
- Successfully work, love and enjoy our leisure.
There is some overlap between deviation from ideal mental health and failure to function adequately.
Explain how the failure to function adequately can be normal.
There are some circumstances where most of us fail to cope for a period of time. It may be unfair to give someone a label that may cause them future problems just because they react to difficult circumstances.
However, the failure to function is no less real just because the cause is clear.
Name one strength of the failure to function adequately.
It represents a sensible threshold for when people need professional help.
The criteria can mean that treatment and services can be targeted to those who need them most.
Name one weakness of the failure to function adequately.
It is easy to label non-standard lifestyle choices as abnormal.
Not having a job may seem like failing to function but for some may choose it as a alternative lifestyle.
Therefore people who make unusual choices are at risk of being labelled abnormal and their freedom of choice may be restricted.
Name one strength of deviation from ideal mental health.
It is highly comprehensive.
This means that ideal mental health provides a checklist against which we can assess ourselves and others and discuss psychological issues with a range of professionals.
Name one weakness of deviation from ideal mental health.
It may be culture bound as that the elements of Jahoda’s list are not equally applicable across a range of cultures.
For example within western Europe there is variation between countries for example independence is high in Germany but low in Italy.
This means it is hard to apply the concept of ideal mental health from one culture to another.
Relate extremely high standards with deviation from ideal mental health.
Very few people attain all of Jahoda’s criteria for mental health and not many will achieve all of them at the same time or keep them up for long.
However having such a comprehensive set of criteria for mental health to work towards might be of practical value to someone wanting to understand and improve their mental health.
What is a phobia?
An irrational fear of an object or situation.
What are the three behavioural characteristics of phobias?
Panic
Avoidance
Endurance (e.g keeping an eye on a spider instead of leaving the room)
What are three emotional characteristics of phobias?
Anxiety
Fear
An ‘unreasonable’ emotional response
What are three cognitive characteristics of phobias?
Selective attention to the phobic stimulus
Irrational beliefs
Cognitive distortions (e.g an arachnophobe may see a spider as ‘aggressive and scary’)
What are three behavioural characteristics of depression?
Aggression and self harm
Disruption to sleep and eating behaviour
Reduced activity levels.
What are three emotional characteristics of depression?
Lowered mood
Anger
Lowered self-esteem.
What are three cognitive characteristics of depression?
Poor concentration
Absolutist thinking
Attending to and dwelling on the negative.
What are three behavioural characteristics of OCD?
Compulsions are repetitive
Compulsions reduce anxiety
Avoidance.
What are three emotional characteristics of OCD?
Anxiety and distress
Accompanying depression
Guilt and disgust.
What are three cognitive characteristics of OCD?
Obsessive thoughts
Cognitive coping strategies
Insight into excessive anxiety (aware).
What approach has been used to explain phobias?
Behavioural
Who proposed the two-process model?
Mowrer (1960)
What is the two-process model?
States that phobias are aquired by classical conditioning and then maintained due to operant conditioning.
What study is used to show acquisition of phobias by classical conditioning?
Watson and Rayner (1920)- Little Albert
Watson and Rayner (1920)
Created a phobias in a 9 month old child called ‘Little Albert’.
Albert at the start had no anxiety and played with the white rat.
However, after a while the experiementers made a loud noise with a iron bar close to his ear when the rat was presented.
The noise is a UCS which creates a UCR of fear.
When the rat (NS) and noise (UCS) are encountered together at the same time, the rat is associated with fear.
The rat is now the (CS) and the fear is the (CR).
This fear generalised to similar objects such as a non-white rabbit.
Maintainance by operant conditioning.
Operant conditioning take place when our behaviour is reinforced (rewarded) or punished.
Both positive and negative reinforcement increase the frequency of behaviours.
In the case of negative reinforcement and individual avoids a situation that is unpleasant and such behaviour results in a desirable consequence, which means behaviour will be repeated.
Mowrer suggested avoiding the phobic stimuluas means we successfully avoid the anxiety that would have been experienced- this reduction in fear reinforces the avoidance behaviour and so the phobia is maintained.
Real-world application of the two process model.
It has been used for eposure therapies such as systematic desensitisation.
The idea that phobias are maintained by avoidance, explains why it is important that people with a phobias benefit from being exposed to the phobic stimulus.
Once the avoidance behaviour is prevented it ceases to be reinforced by the experience of anxiety reduction and so avoidance declines.
In behavioural terms, the phobias is the avoidance behaviour so when this avoidance is prevented the phobia is cured.
A limitation of the two-process model.
Does not account for cognitive aspects of phobias.
In the case of phobias the key behaviour is avoidance of the phobic stimulus.
However, phobias are not simply avoidance responses- they also have a significant cognitive component.
For example many people have irrational beliefs about the phobic stimulus.
The two-process model explains avoidance behaviour but does not offer an adequate explaination for phobic cognitions.
