Psychopathology

Question 1

What are the different definitions for abnormality?

Answer 1

Deviation from social norms
Deviation from Ideal Mental Health
Failure to function adequately
Statisitical infrequency

Question 2

Describe the definition deviation from social norms

Answer 2

• behaviour goes against expectations of a community or culture, or what most people do
• social judgements about what is acceptable
  Examples:
  Drinking alcohol with breakfast
  Selfies at a funeral
  Cheating in an exam

Question 3

Pros and cons of deviation from social norms

Answer 3

+ RLA disorders like antisocial personality disorder (failure to conform to normative behaviour) can be assessed and diagnosed
- Reductionist- doesn’t consider factors such as distress
- cultural relativism- what is normal in one culture may not be in another
- poor temporal validity- social norms have changed over time- e.g attitudes towards the same sex relationships have changed over time in society

Question 4

Describe deviation from ideal mental health

Answer 4

• Jahoda produced a criteria for good mental health:
  Self-attitude
  Perception of reality
  Autonomy
  Resistance to stress
  Self-actualisation
  Environmental mastery
  SPARSE
  Examples:
  Negative self-worth
  Being dependent on others
  Not able to deal with daily stresses

Question 5

Pros and cons of deviation from ideal mental health

Answer 5

+ comprehensive definition- includes all the reasons why someone might seek help
- cultural relativism- ideas like self-actualisation are specific to Western cultures
- unrealistically high standards- few people will achieve all/ most of the ideals
- subjective

Question 6

Explain SPARSE

Answer 6

Self-attitude- high self-esteem and a personal identity
Perception of reality- seeing life as it really is, not in a way that nobody else perceives it
Autonomy- being independent and looking after looking yourself
Resistance to stress- being able to cope with stressful situations
Self- actualisation- develop full capabilities
Environmental mastery- adjusting to new environments

Question 7

Describe failure to function adequately

Answer 7

• Rosenhan and seligman proposed signs of failing to cope with the demands of everyday life:
  . Personal distress
  . Observer discomfort
  . Unpredictability
  . Irrationality
  . Maladaptiveness
  . Violation of moral and ideal standards
  Examples:
• washing hands religiously
• not sleeping

Question 8

Pros and cons of failure to function adequately

Answer 8

+ recognises individuals perspectives
+ can help to explain mental disorders
- difficult to distinguish from deviation from social norms- extreme sports could be both
- based on subjective judgments by psychiatrists

Question 9

Describe statistical infrequency

Answer 9

• numerically unusual behaviour or characteristic
• extreme ends of the normal distribution curve
  Examples
• IQ
• Height
• Weight

Question 10

Pros and cons of statistical infrequency

Answer 10

+ objective and simple to assess
- unusual characteristics can be positive (eg very high intelligence)
- not everyone ‘unusual’ benefits from the label
- ignored individual differences