Psychopathology Evaluations Flashcards
Statistical Infrequency: Real-World Application
One strength of the statistical infrequency definition of abnormality is that it is useful in clinical practice.
Statistical infrequency is used both as part of formal diagnosis and as a way to assess the severity of an individual’s symptoms. For example, a diagnosis of intellectual disability disorder requires an IQ of <70, and a score of 30+ on the Beck depression inventory (BDI) indicates severe depression. This shows the value of the statistical infrequency criterion in diagnostic and assessment processes.
Statistical Infrequency: Unusual characteristics can be positive
One weakness of the statistical infrequency definition of abnormality is that infrequent characteristics can be positive as well as negative. For example, individuals with an IQ of >130 or a very low score on the BDI, would be considered as abnormal according to this definition. However, we would not consider these individuals to be abnormal, thus showing that being unusual or at one end of psychological spectrum does not necessarily make someone 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.
Deviation from Social Norms: Real-World Application
One strength of the deviation from social norms definition of abnormality is that it is useful in clinical practice. For example, the key defining characteristic of antisocial personality disorder is the failure to conform to culturally normal ethical behaviour, e.g. aggression and deceitfulness. These signs of the disorder are all deviations from social norms. Such norms also play a part in the diagnosis of schizotypical personality disorder, where the term ‘strange’ is used to characterise the thinking, behaviour and appearance of people with the disorder. This shows that the deviation from social norms criterion has value in psychiatry.
Deviation from Social Norms: Cultural and Situational Relativism
One weakness of the deviation from social norms definition of abnormality is the variability between social norms in different cultures and different situations. A person from one cultural group may label someone from another group as abnormal using their standards rather than the person’s standards. For example, the experience of hearing voices is the norm in some cultures (messages from ancestors) but would be a sign of abnormality in the UK. This means that it is difficult to judge deviation from social norms across different cultures and situations.
Failure to Function Adequately: Represents a Threshold for Help
One strength of the FFA definition of abnormality is that it represents a sensible threshold for when people need professional help. Most of us have symptoms of a mental disorder to some degree at some time. However, most people press on in the face of fairly severe symptoms. It tends to be at the point that we cease to function adequately that people seek professional help or are noticed and referred for help by others. This criterion means that treatment and services can be targeted to those who need them most.
Failure to Function Adequately: Discrimination and Social Control
One limitation of failure to function is that it is easy to label non-standard lifestyle choices as abnormal.
It can be very difficult to say whether someone is really failing to function or has chosen a lifestyle that deviates from the norm. For example, not having a job or a permanent address might seem like failing to function, and for some people it would be. However people with alternative lifestyles may choose to live ‘off-grid’. Similarly those who favour high-risk leisure activities (e.g. base jumping) could be classed as irrational and a danger to self. This means that people who make unusual choices are at risk of being labelled abnormal and their freedom of choice may be restricted.
Deviation from Ideal Mental Health: A Comprehensive Definition
One strength of the deviation from ideal mental health definition of abnormality is that it is highly comprehensive. Jahoda’s concept of ‘ideal mental health’ includes a range of criteria for distinguishing mental health from illness. It covers most of the reasons why we might seek (or be referred for) help with mental health. This means that an individual’s mental health can be discussed meaningfully with a range of professionals who might take different theoretical views. This is a strength as this definition provides a checklist against which we can assess ourselves and others and discuss psychological issues with a range of professionals.
Deviation from Ideal Mental Health: Extremely High Standards
One limitation of the ideal mental health definition is that it sets very high standards for good mental health. Few individuals attain all of Jahoda’s criteria for mental health, and even fewer achieve all of them at the same time or keep them up for very long. For example, most people experience stress at some point in their life. Based on this definition, students experiencing a degree of exam stress would be considered abnormal. This is a weakness as it can be disheartening to see an impossible set of standards to live up to, and the validity of the definition is questioned as if the majority of people lack at least one of these criteria this would mean that being abnormal is in fact normal.
Introducing and Explaining Phobias: Real-World Application
A strength of the behavioural explanation is its application to therapy. The behaviourist ideas have been used to develop exposure therapies, including systematic desensitisation and flooding, based on the principles of conditioning. According to the behaviourist approach, phobias are maintained by avoidance. Once the avoidance behaviour is prevented it ceases to be reinforced and therefore declines. Consequently, these therapies have been successfully used to treat people with phobias, providing further support for the effectiveness of the behaviourist explanation.
Introducing and Explaining Phobias: Ignores Evolutionary Factors
The behavioural approach may not provide a complete explanation of phobias. For example, Bounton highlights the fact that evolutionary factors could play a role in phobias, especially if the avoidance of a particular stimulus could have increased the chance of survival for our ancestors. Evolutionary psychologists suggest that we are predisposed to some phobias (e.g. snakes and heights) as they are innate, rather than learnt, as such phobias acted as a survival mechanism for our ancestors. This innate predisposition to certain phobias is called biological preparedness (Seligman) and casts doubt on the two‐process model since it suggests that there is more to phobias than learning.
Introducing and Explaining Phobias: Ignores Cognitive Factors
A limitation of the two-process model is that there are cognitive aspects to phobias that cannot be explained in a behaviourist framework and are therefore ignored. An alternative explanation for phobias is the cognitive approach, which proposes that phobias may develop as the consequence of irrational thinking. For example, a person in a lift may think “I could become trapped and suffocate (irrational thought), which could lead to extreme anxiety and trigger a phobia. This means that the two-process model does not completely explain the symptoms of phobias.
Treating Phobias: Effectiveness of SD
A strength of SD is the evidence base for its effectiveness. For example, Gilroy et al followed up 42 people who had SD for arachnophobia in three 45-minute sessions. At both 3 and 33 months, the SD group were less fearful than a control group treated by relaxation without exposure. In a recent review, Wechsler et al concluded that SD is effective for specific phobias, social phobia and agoraphobia. This means that SD is likely to be helpful for people with phobias.
Treating Phobias: Flooding is Cost-Effective
A strength of flooding is that it is highly cost-effective. A therapy is cost-effective if it is clinically effective (i.e. it tackles symptoms) and not expensive. Flooding can work in as little as one session as opposed to multiple sessions for other therapies, such as SD and CBT. Even allowing for a longer session makes flooding more cost-effective. This means that more people can be treated at the same cost with flooding than with SD or other therapies.
Treating Phobias: Flooding is Traumatic
One limitation of flooding is that it is a highly unpleasant experience. Confronting one’s phobic stimulus in an extreme form provokes tremendous anxiety. This raises the ethical issue for psychologists of knowingly causing stress to their clients, although this is not a serious issue provided they obtain informed consent. The traumatic nature of flooding means that attrition (dropout) rates are higher than for SD. This has a serious impact on the effectiveness of this therapy if clients do not engage fully with the process. This suggests that, overall, therapists may avoid using this treatment.
Treating Phobias: Symptom Substitution
A limitation of behavioural therapies is that they only mask the symptoms and do not tackle the underlying causes of phobias (symptom substitution). If the symptoms are removed the cause still remains and the symptoms will simply resurface, possibly in another form. For example, a child struggling to cope with a bereavement may displace their anxiety about death on to something more tangible and easier to deal with such as a fear of leaving the house. If this is the case then it makes sense that the real source of anxiety then needs to be treated not the displaced fear. Although behaviourists claim that most if not all phobias come about through conditioning, this lack of focus on potential underlying causes of phobias could be problematic and is a limitation of behavioural therapies.
