Psychopathology Flashcards
Statistical infrequency
Behaviours that are statistically rare are abnormal. 2 standard deviations away from the mean classed as abnormal
Statistical infrequency Evaluations
- Not all infrequent behaviours are undesirable. eg high iq
- Chronic depression occurs in 10% of people at some point meaning it would be classed as normal
- Gives full overview of general behaviours in population
- Cultural factors, sth may not be abnormal in other cultures eg cueing in britain
Deviation from social norms
Behaviour that goes against agreed social norms is abnormal.
Situational norms - acceptable behaviour in a situation
Developmental norms - acceptable behaviour at a certain age
Changes over time (deviation from social norms)
Drinking and driving was common in 60s and 70s
Smoking in public places was common
Homosexuality was classed as illness on DSM until 1973
Deviation from social norms Evaluations
- Accepts developmental norms
- Gives society the right to intervene in someones life when they need it most
-Social norms are subjective and are not tangible
- Change over time
- Is being non conforming abnormal?
Deviation from ideal mental health
Behaviour is abnormal if person deviates too far from expected state of ideal mental health.
Jahoda 1958 identified 6 aspects of ideal mental health and if these are absent it indicates abnormality
Jahoda’s 6 aspects of ideal mental health
1) Personal growth and self actualisation - achieving ones potential
2) Accurate perception of reality - no distortion and realistic view
3) Autonomy - being independent
4) Integration - resisting and coping with stress
5) Self-attitudes - self respect
6) Environmental mastery - Being flexible in any environment
Evaluation of deviation from ideal mental health
- Emphasises on what we need to have rather than what we dont. Positive and progressive definition
- Holistic takes into account many different aspects of individuals life not reductionist
- Goal setting - allows individuals to see goals to achieve normality
- Very difficult to achieve normality in this defoniton
- Vague criteria and difficult to measure
Failure to function adequately
The inability to cope with the demands of everyday life. Eg not going to work
Features of failure to function adequately
- Personal or distress to others
- Maladaptive behaviour - stops u from attaining life goals
- Unpredictability
- Irrationality
- Observer discomfort
- Violation of moral standards
- Unconventiality
Evaluations of failure to function adequately
- Focuses on observable behaviour that can be seen
- Very difficult to achieve normality
- Feeling distress can be normal sometimes . eg if parent dies
Two Process Model
Classical conditioning - Learning through association
Operant condition - Learning through consequence
Acquisition of phobias
Acquisition of phobias through a traumatic event and association.
Stimuli you become phobic to starts as neutral stimulus as it doesn’t initially scare you, but the pairing to the unconditioned stimulus links it to the feeling of fear
Maintenance of phobias
(operant conditioning processes)
Rewarded for avoiding phobia
Punishment if exposed to phobia
Law of effect
Every behaviour that is rewarded will likely be repeated. Every behaviour that is punished will lead to extinguishing the behaviour
One trial learning
Behaviour can be learnt in one incident. Doesn’t take several repeated events to trigger phobia.
EG - Spider bite
Watson and Rayner (Little Albert)
-Watson and Raynor presented little albert with a white rat and he showed no fear
-They then presented the rat with a loud bang that startled albert and made him cry
-After continuous association of the white rat and loud noises Albert became classically conditioned to experience fear at sight of rat
-Alberts fear generalized to other stimuli similar to the rat, eg fur coat and cotton wool
Stimulus-generalisation
Conditioned stimulus can be generalised to similar stimuli. EG - little albert generalised fear to almost anything white and fluffy
Systematic Desensitisation (WOLPE 1950S)
-Counter conditions sufferers by replacing feeling of fear with calmness.
Extinguishes undesirable behaviour by replacing it with a more desirable one
Reciprocal inhibition
The idea that we cannot feel two major emotions at the same time eg fear and relaxation
In vitro
Patient imagines exposure to the phobic stimulus
In vivo
Patient is actually exposed to the phobic stimulus
Menzies and Clarke 1993
Found in vivo techniques more effective, but sometimes it has to be imagined eg death phobia
Three step approach of Systematic Desensitisation
- Relaxation techniques
- Hierarchy of fear
- Graduated exposure
Flooding
Exposing the patient to their phobia without any build up to the exposure.
Clients are exposed to the most fearful scenario immediately with a view to overwhelm and normalise fear response
How flooding prevents phobias
Overwhelming of fear response, coupled with realisation that fear isn’t harmful leads to adrenaline and anxiety levels returning to baseline and client realising irrationality of phobias. Exhaustion sets in and anxiety level begins to go down
Flooding and classical + operant conditioning
Prolonged intense exposure eventually creates new association between feared object and something positive. Preventing reinforcement of phobias through avoidance behaviour.
