Psychopathology Flashcards
What are the 4 definitions of abnormality?
- Deviation from Social Norms
- Failure to Functions Adequately
- Deviation from Ideal Mental Health
- Statistical Infrequency
Outline Deviation from Social Norms
Standards of acceptable/expected behaviour are set by a social group (i.e. social norms), (1)
These behaviours could be explicit e.g. laws or implicit e.g. unwritten rules.(2)
Anything that deviates from acceptable behaviour is considered abnormal.(3)
Give an example of Deviation from Social Norms
For example, in OCD some individuals may refuse to use cutlery at restaurants choosing instead to bring their own due to fear of contamination. This would break the expected ways of behaving in society and so would be seen as abnormal.
Outline Failure to Function Adequately
- This involves not being able to cope with the demands of everyday life. (1)
- It looks at abnormal behaviour that interferes with everyday life. E.g. unable to maintain basic standards of nutrition or personal hygiene.(2)
- Rosenhan and Seligman state that signs of a person failing to function adequately include; maladaptive behaviour, irrational bejaviour, behaviour that is dangerous to themselves or others, severe personal distress. (3)
Give an example of Failure to Function Adequately
For example, someone with depression may be unable to keep a job, get up in the morning, their eating habbits may change and they may be unable to maintain relationships. Therefore showing that they have an inability to cope with the demands of everyday life (must be linked to mental health).
Outline Deviation from Ideal Mental Health
Failure to meet one or more of these criteria would suggest an abnormality, the more criteria they fail to meet, the more abnormal the person would be deemed (2)
The criteria are;
1. Self-attitudes- having high self esteem and strong sense of identity.
2. Self actualisation - the extent to which an individual works to their capabilities and reaches their full potential.
3. Resistance to stress (integration) – being resistant to stress.
4. Autonomy- being independent and self regulating.
5. Reality- having an accurate perception of reality/the world.
6. Mastery of environment- ability to love, function at work and in relationships, solve problems, adjust to new situations, enjoy our leisure etc.
Outline Statistical Infrequency
This definition of abnormality suggests that we must look at behaviours that are typical (normal) of the general population (1)
Then any behaviour which is rare (not shown by many people) is abnormal. (2)
Therefore, on a distribution curve any behaviour that is 2 or more standard deviations from the mean is statistically rare. (3)
Give an example of Statistical Infrequency
For example, OCD affects 2% of the population so is therefore abnormal as it is statistically rare.
AO3: Deviation from Social Norms
Strength
However, a strength of deviations from Social Norms as a definition of abnormality is that it differentiates between desirable and undesirable behaviour within a culture. This definition categorises abnormality based on social norms within a culture. This is unlike Statistical infrequency as a definition of abnormality, which suggests that if your behaviour is not typical (rare) then you are abnormal even though this behaviour could be desirable within a culture such as having a very high IQ. Therefore, deviation from social norms may be a more appropriate definition of abnormality because it allows us to understand behaviour in context.
AO3: Deviation from Social Norms
Weakness
One weakness of deviation from social norms as a definition for abnormality is that social norms are created within a culture. It can therefore be argued that deviation from social norms is limited by cultural relativism. Different cultures have different social norms and expectations of behaviour, for example, in a western culture, someone receiving messages sent from spirits could be seen as a symptom of Schizophrenia, whereas in a non western culture, these signs could be classed as a spiritual gift (Shaman). Therefore, it may not be appropriate to use DSN to define abnormality outside of a specific culture (Western).
AO3: Failure to Function Adequately
Strength
One strength of failure to function adequately as a definition of abnormality is “failing to cope with the demands of everyday life” can be used as a measure for when people should seek professional help. According to the mental health charity ‘Mind’, around 48% of people in the UK will experience a mental health problem at some point of their life, however most people press on despite failing to function adequately. If it is noticed that people are ‘failing to function adequately’, treatment and services can be targeted to those who need it most, meaning failure to function adequately could be a useful measure when defining abnormality because people can receive early intervention for their mental health.
AO3: Failure to Function Adequately
Weakness
However, whilst it is easier to identify who is not coping day-to-day, a weakness of failure to function adequately as a definition of abnormality is that it is easy to label non-standard lifestyle choices as abnormal. It can be very hard to say when someone is really failing to function adequately and when they have simply chosen to deviate away from social norms. An example of this may be those who favour high risk leisure activities or unusual spiritual practices could be classed unreasonably as irrational and perhaps a danger to themselves and therefore abnormal. Therefore, this is a limitation of FFA as a definition of abnormality as people who make unusual choices are at risk of being labelled abnormal and their freedom of choice may therefore be restricted.
AO3: Deviation from Ideal Mental Health
Strength
One strength of ideal mental health as a definition of abnormality is that this definition is vastly different to the other definitions as it takes a positive approach to defining abnormality. This is because it focuses on the characteristics that make up normal behaviour that distinguish mental health from abnormality, rather than those characteristics that makes an individual abnormal (such as in failure to function adequately identifying distress and unpredictable behaviour). Having a more positive approach to mental health disorders may reduce the stigma that can surround mental health, making it more likely for people suffering to seek help and advice. Therefore, deviation from ideal mental health may be a more appropriate way than the other definitions to define abnormality.
AO3: Deviation from Ideal Mental Health
Weakness
Despite DIMH being a more positive approach to define abnormality, Deviation from ideal mental health has a strict criteria strict criterion (Jahoda’s six categories). People may not be able to realistically meet all six characteristics at any one time. For example, an individual who has lost their job may not be able to cope with the stressful situation and would be classed as abnormal by this definition. Therefore, limiting the use of deviation from ideal mental health as a definition of abnormality.
AO3: Statistical Infrequency
Strength
A strength of statistical infrequency as a definition of abnormality is that it has practical applications. This is because statistical infrequency is used in the real world in clinical practice, both as part of diagnosis and as a way to assess the severity of an individual’s symptoms. For example, a diagnosis of intellectual disability disorders requires an IQ of below 70 (bottom 2%). An example of where SI is used as an assessment took is in Beck’s depression inventory where a score of 30+ (top 5%) is widely interpreted as indication severe depression. Therefore, SI as a definition of abnormality is an important part of applied psychology.
AO3: Statistical Infrequency
Weakness
However, just because a behaviour is rare, does not necessarily mean it would need to be treated as an abnormality. One limitation of statistical infrequency is that it does not differentiate between desirable and undesirable behaviour when defining abnormality. For example, a high IQ is desirable, and we would not consider someone with a high IQ as abnormal. However, a high IQ is seen as statistically rare and therefore would be abnormal by this definition. This is a limitation to the statistical infrequency definition of abnormality and means that it could never be used solely to make a diagnosis and treatment plan.
Define Phobias
Phobias are when you experience extreme fear or anxiety, activated by an object (eg.spider), place (eg. lifts) or situation(eg. crowds) (1). The fear of the phobic stimulus is irrational and often out of proportion to any real danger (2).
What are the behavioural characteristics of Phobias?
Avoidance of the feared object – making conscious effort to avoid coming in contact with their phobic stimulus.
Panic – crying, screaming or running away from the phobic stimulus. Alternatively, freezing or fainting.
What are the cognitive characteristics of Phobias?
Persistent irrational beliefs about the phobic stimulus e.g. a spider will harm you.
Selective attention – keeping attention on the phobic stimulus and finding it difficult to look away incase of ‘danger’.
What are the emotional characteristics of Phobias?
Anxiety - Exposure to the phobic stimulus causes worry or distress
Fear – exposure to the phobic stimulus causes terror
What is the behavioural approach of explaining phobias?
The behavioural approach suggests that phobias are a learned behaviour. (1)
Mowrer argues that phobias are initially learnt through classical conditioning then maintained through operant conditioning. This is called the two-process model. (2)
Acquisition by classical conditioning:
Classical conditioning involves learning to associate something of which we initially have no fear of (a neutral stimulus) with something that already triggers a fear response (unconditioned stimulus). This fear response is triggered every time they see or think about the feared object. (3)
At the beginning of the experiment, ‘Little Albert’ was NOT afraid of RATS.
Whenever the rat was presented to Albert the researcher’s made a loud, frightening noise by banging an iron bar close to Albert’s ear.
The noise is an unconditioned stimulus, which causes the unconditioned response of fear. When the rat (a neurtal stimulus) was presented with the loud bang Albert learned to associate them together. The rat then became a conditioned stimulus and caused the conditioned response of fear in Little Albert, whenever he saw the rat.(4)
Responses acquired by classical conditioning usually tend to decline over time, however Mowrer emphasised that phobias are maintained through operant conditioning (5) because by continuing to avoid the feared stimulus they are being negatively reinforced (avoiding something unpleasant) by reducing the anxiety they feel. This explains why phobias are long lasting, through continued avoidance.(6)
Who conducted research on Little Albert?
Watson and Raynor
Outline the research on Little Albert
At the beginning of the experiment, ‘Little Albert’ was NOT afraid of RATS.
Whenever the rat was presented to Albert the researcher’s made a loud, frightening noise by banging an iron bar close to Albert’s ear.
The noise is an unconditioned stimulus, which causes the unconditioned response of fear. When the rat (a neurtal stimulus) was presented with the loud bang Albert learned to associate them together. The rat then became a conditioned stimulus and caused the conditioned response of fear in Little Albert, whenever he saw the rat.
This fear then generalised to similar objects such as a fur coat and the beard on a Santa Claus mask.
AO3: Behavioural Approach to explaining Phobias
Reductionism
The behaviourist approach to explaining a phobia can be criticised for environmental reductionism. This is because it reduces the complex human behaviour of phobias down to the simple basic units of learning phobias through stimulus, response and associations between a neutral stimulus and a unconditioned stimulus, and maintaining a phobia through reinforcements. This neglects a holistic approach, which would take in to account how a person’s culture and social context would influence phobias. For example, the phobia Taijin Kyofusno which is the extreme fear of displeasing others, is relative to the culture of Japan, which is a collectivist culture, a phobia that would be much less likely to occur in an individualistic culture whereby displeasing others would not be as feared. Therefore, the behavioural explanation (two-process model) of phobias may lack internal validity, as it does not allow us to understand the behaviour in context.
AO3: Behavioural Approach to explaining Phobias
Practical Application
The behavioural approach to explaining phobias (two-process model) has practical applications. It suggests that phobias are learnt through classical conditioning, and can therefore be unlearnt using classical conditioning. This theory has been used to create the treatment; systematic desensitisation. This works by teaching a patient relaxation techniques, and gradually exposing them to their phobic stimulus so they can learn to associate their phobic stimulus with relaxation, rather than fear, and therefore extinguish the phobia. Think further: Because this approach states the phobia is maintained through operant conditioning (by avoiding the phobic stimulus) once the avoidance behaviour is prevented because the person no longer has the phobia, the phobia then stops being reinforced. This helps to treat people in the real world and therefore the behavioural approach (two-process model) of explaining of phobias is an important applied psychology.
AO3: Behavioural Approach to explaining Phobias
RTS by Ad de Jongh et al + Counter Argument
Research to support the behaviourist explanation of phobias comes from a study by Ad De Jongh et al (2006) who found that 73% of people with a fear of dental treatment had experienced a traumatic experience, mostly involving dentistry. This can be compared to a control group of people with low dental anxiety where only 21% had experienced a traumatic event. This confirms that association between a stimulus, in this case dentistry, with an unconditioned response, in this case pain, leads to the development of a phobia. Therefore, this study supports the behaviourist explanation of phobias developing through associations, stimulus and responses.
Counter argument:
However, it is important to notice that not all bad experiences lead to phobias, for example in the study by Ad De Jongh described above, 21% of people in the control group had a traumatic experience involving dentistry but did not develop a phobia. In addition to this, some people have phobias of stimuli that they have never encountered or had a bad experience with, for example a snake. This suggests that explanations other than the behaviourist explanation should also be considered when understanding phobias.
What are the 2 behavioural ways of treating a phobia?
- Systematic Desensitisation
- Flooding
