Psychopathology Flashcards
Deviation from Social Norms
Standards of acceptable/expected behaviour are set by a social group. These behaviours could be explicit e.g. laws or implicit e.g. unwritten rules. Anything that deviates from acceptable behaviour is considered abnormal.
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.
Deviation from Social Norms AO3
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).
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.
Failure to Function Adequately
This involves not being able to cope with the demands of everyday life. It looks at abnormal behaviour that interferes with everyday life. E.g. unable to maintain basic standards of nutrition or personal hygiene. Rosenhan and Seligman state that signs of a person failing to function adequately include; maladaptive behaviour, irrational behaviour, severe personal distress.
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
Failure to Function Adequately AO3
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.
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.
Deviation from Ideal Mental Health
Jahoda says there are six criteria that define mental healthiness. 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
The criteria are;
1. Self-attitudes- having high self esteem
2. Self actualisation - the extent to which an individual reaches their full potential.
3. Resistance to stress – being resistant to stress.
4. Autonomy- being independent and self regulating.
5. Reality- having an accurate perception of reality
6. Mastery of environment- ability to adjust to new situations
(Name 2 and explain them for the 3rd mark point)
Deviation from Ideal Mental Health AO3
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. 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.
Despite DIMH being a more positive approach to define abnormality, Deviation from ideal mental health has a strict criteria. 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.
Statistical Infrequency
This definition of abnormality suggests that we must look at behaviours that are typical of the general population. Then any behaviour which is rare is abnormal. Therefore, on a distribution curve any behaviour that is 2 or more standard deviations from the mean is statistically rare.
For example, OCD affects 2% of the population so is therefore abnormal as it is statistically rare.
Statistical Infrequency AO3
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. An example of where SI is used as an assessment tool is in Beck’s depression inventory where a score of 30+ is widely interpreted as indication severe depression. Therefore, SI as a definition of abnormality is an important part of applied psychology.
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.
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.
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’.
Emotional characteristics of phobias
Anxiety - Exposure to the phobic stimulus causes worry or distress.
Fear – exposure to the phobic stimulus causes terror
Feelings of anxiety/fear may be excessive and unreasonable and often out of proportion to any real danger.
Behavioural approach to explaining phobias
The behavioural approach suggests that phobias are a learned behaviour. Mowrer argues that phobias are initially learnt through classical conditioning then maintained through operant conditioning. This is called the two-process model.
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.
Watson and Raynor conditioned 9 month old Little Albert to have a fear of rats.
NS= rats, UCS= loud noise, UCR= fear (associate rat and noise), CS= rat, CR= fear
Responses acquired by classical conditioning usually tend to decline over time, however Mowrer emphasised that phobias are maintained through operant conditioning because by continuing to avoid the feared stimulus they are being negatively reinforced by reducing the anxiety they feel. This explains why phobias are long lasting, through continued avoidance.
Behavioural approach to explaining phobias AO3
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.
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. 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.
One alternative explanation that should be considered when explaining phobias is the evolutionary explanation. This would argue that we are born with certain phobias because the feared stimulus would have been dangerous in our evolutionary past and has therefore been passed down through generations as a survival advantage. This could explain why a person may have a phobia of a snake, even if they have never encountered one before, as they would have been dangerous in our evolutionary past. Therefore, the behavioural approach cannot be seen as a sole explanation of phobias.
Behavioural approach to treating phobias: Systematic Desensitisation
AIM: To use classical conditioning to unlearn a maladaptive behavioural response to a phobic stimulus
Relaxation:
The patient is taught how to relax using breathing exercises.
Hierarchy of anxiety:
The patient then works with the therapist to make a graded scale starting with stimuli that scares them the least to those that scare them the most (LINK)
Gradual Exposure:
The client is then gradually exposed to the least feared situation, they may feel anxious but are encouraged to put the relaxation techniques into practice.
This is known as reciprocal inhibition - The concept whereby two incompatible states of mind cannot co-exist at the same time. E.g. anxiety and relaxation
Once they are relaxed, they are then exposed to the next stage of the hierarchy. This is a gradual process and the client only moves beyond each stage once they are relaxed.
Complete Treatment:
The patient completes treatment when they are desensitised and are able to move through the hierarchy
Behavioural approach to treating phobias AO3 (Systematic Desensitisation)
Research to support the effectiveness of Systematic Desensitisation as a treatment for phobias was conducted by Gilroy. She followed up 42 people who had SD for spider phobias in three 45-minute sessions using gradual exposure. At both three months after treatment and thirty-three months after treatments. The SD group were much less fearful than a control group who were treated with a therapy that did not use exposure to a phobic stimuli as part of the therapy. Therefore suggesting that reassociating a phobia with relaxation through systematic desensitisation is an effective treatment for phobias.
However, despite there being evidence of SD being effective, it could be argued that systematic desensitisation may not be appropriate for all patients as it requires motivation and commitment from patients. Patients must attend sessions over a period of time and be exposed to anxiety provoking situations, this may make some patients stop therapy. If patients stop attending therapy, then the therapy is ineffective, and their anxieties will return. This is unlike drug therapy which requires little motivation and commitment from patients as they only have to take a tablet in order to reduce the anxiety that they feel, which does not require much will power. Therefore, limiting the appropriateness of systematic desensitisation as a treatment for phobias.
One strength of systematic desensitisation is that it could be seen as a more appropriate behavioural therapy for most patients due to the patient being given high control over their own therapy. This is because they create their own hierarchy of anxiety with the therapist and are gradually exposure to feared stimuli and only move on to the next stage of the hierarchy once they feel relaxed. This is unlike flooding which can be quite traumatic for patients as they are immediately exposed to their most feared stimuli, which can cause high anxiety levels. This means that patients often opt for systematic desensitisation. Therefore, suggesting systematic desensitisation is an appropriate treatment for phobias.
