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32 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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The four definitions of abnormality |
1. Statistical deviation 2. Deviation from social norms 3. Failure to function adequately 4. Deviation from ideal mental health |
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Definition of abnormality: statistical deviation |
In statistical terms human behaviours classed as abnormality if it isn't typical for most people. Things like height, weight and intellegence fall into broad areas and people outside of these areas might be considered abnormally tall/short fat/thin clever/unintellegent. In statistical terms they're abnormal because their behaviour is statistically infrequent and not the norm. Example: the normal distribution curve for IQ. Anything between 70 and 130 is considered normal and anything more or less than this is statistically infrequent and therefore abnormal. Evaluation:1. this approach is very numerical so helps to make a cut off point for what is and isn't considered abnormal. 2. This definition doesn't however take into account whtyer the behaviour is desirable. For Example most people would want to be above the average for intelligence. 3. Some behaviours could be abnormal but statistically frequent, for example illegally downloading music and this definition doesn't take this into consideration. 4. Different cultures may have different definitions of abnormality and this isn't taken into consideration |
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Definition of abnormality: deviation from social norms |
Every society or culture has standards of acceptable behaviours or norms. Behaviours that deviate from the social norms are considered abnormal. Social Norms are approved and expected ways of acting in societies and social situations. All societies have social norms , for example about how to dress depending on age and gender. Example: anti-social personality disorder. A person with this disorder is impulsive, aggressive and irresponsible. One important symptom of APD is the absence of prosocial internal standards associated with the fairlure to conform to lawful or normative behaviour. Somebody with this disorder may be considered abnormal as they aren't abiding by social norms. Evaluation: 1. Some abnormalities might be culturally specific and may be acceptable in one society but abnormal in another. Eg cannibalist culture and street performers. 2. Social norms and abnormalities can be time dependant. Things that were abnormal in the past are normal today eg racism and gay marriage. 3. Human rights may be abused if an individual isn't allowed to do something because it's abnormal eg not having freedom of speech |
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Failure to function adequately (not FFA) |
This refers to an abnormality that prevents a person from carrying out a range of behaviours that society would expect from them (eg getting out of bed or having a job). These include personal distress, unpredictability and irrationality among others. The more features of personal dysfunction a person has the more abnormal they are. This provides a practical checklist of criteria to check clear abnormality levels. FFA criteria might not be linked to abnormality but other factors like economic status. |
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Deviation from ideal mental health |
Jahoda thought there were six necessary criteria for ideal mental health. Not having any of these characteristics would indicate people are abnormal and aren't meeting ideal mental health. These criteria are: resistance to stress and having effective coping strategies, growth development and self actualization, high self esteem and a strong sense of identity, autonomy and an accurate perception of reality. There is difficulty bin meeting all the criteria as very few people are able to this which would suggest very few people are psychologically healthy. The ideas are also culture bound as ideas of western mental health might not be the same for other cultures. |
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What is a phobia? |
An irrational fear of an object or situation |
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Physical characteristics of phobias |
-feeling sick -shaking -heart racing -sweaty palms -headache -tense -fainting |
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Emotional characteristics of phobias |
-Persistent anxiety which prevents the sufferer from relaxing can be long term. - The sufferer will have extreme fear in the presence of the phobic stimulus and could experience panicking attacks |
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Behavioural characteristics of phobias |
-avoidance (eg running away from phobic stimulus) -disruption of functioning . An individual's response is so extreme their unable to do everyday things |
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Cognitive characteristics of phobias |
-recognition of exaggerated anxiety. People with phobias are aware their reaction is extreme -person with phobia may hold irrational beliefs eg social phobias may hold a beleif like "i must always sound intelligent". |
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Classification of phobias |
There are three types of phobias: 1. Specific phobias- occur when sufferer fears specific things and environments (eg the fear of clowns). This can be divided further into animal phobias, injury phobias, situational phobias and natural environment phobias. 2. Social phobias- involves being over anxious in social situations (eh talking in public). These divide into performance phobias, interaction phobias and generalised phobias. 3. Agoraphobia- the fear of leaving home or a safe place and can often lead to panic attacks. |
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The behavioural approach to explaining phobias |
The behaviourist approach says we develop phobias in a two stage process: 1. Phobias being acquired through classical conditioning 2. Being maintained through operant conditioning. This is supported by the little Albert study where a child was subjected to a loud noise whenever he tried to touch a white rat and was conditioned to be fearful of it. Phobias are maintained through operand conditioning by an individual avoiding a feared stimulus which acts as negative reinforcement as a person is able to avoid an unpleasant consequence. The reduction of anxiety that as a result of avoidance reinforces this behaviour and prevents them from facing their fear. |
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Little Albert study- classical conditioning in phobias (behaviourist approach) |
Little Albert was shown a number of animals to see which he liked best and found it was the white rat. The rat was put near Little Albert for him to pet but whenever he attempted to touch the rat a loud noise was made by banging a steel rod with a hammer. The loud noise was the unconditioned stimulus and the unconditioned response was fear. After Little Ablert tried to touch the rat a few times and the noise sounded the neutral stimulus of the rat became the conditioned stimulus and he became fearful of the white rat (a conditioned response). This fear generalised to things rat looked like the rat such as a small dog or fur rug. |
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Behaviourist approach evaluation |
1. Behaviourist treatments have been shown to be effective which supports the idea there may be a behavioural cause. 2. Sometimes people have phobias of something even though they never had a traumatic experience with it eg people fear snakes even though they've never actually seen one. 3. Bagby reported a case study of a woman who had a phobia of running water that began with her feet getting stuck in some rocks near a waterfall, after a while she became more fearful. This supports the Behaviourist approach because the woman acquired the phobia via classical conditioning and maintained it with the two stage process. 4. Di Gallo reported around 20% of people that experienced a traumatic car accident developed a phobia of travelling in cars. Only 20% of people developing this phobia suggests phobias aren't always made after a bad experience and could depend on an individual's thought process. 5. Mowrer found by making presentations of an electric shock to rats immediately following the sound of a buzzer, he could produce a fear response just by the buzzer. He then rained the rats to escape shocks by making them jump over the barrier when the buzzer sounded. They repeated this behaviour and maintained the fear which supports the operant conditioning part of the process. |
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The behavioural approach to treating phobias |
Behavioural therapies are based on the ideas of classical and operand conditioning and aim to change specific behaviours. They assume both normal and abnormal behavios are learnt. The two main therapies used are flooding and systematic desensitization (SD) . Flooding is when a patient is exposed to an extreme form of their phobic stimulus however SD us slowly building up a hierarchy of anxiety provoking phobias. |
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What is OCD |
A condition characterised by obsessive and/or compulsive behaviour |
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Emotional characteristics of OCD |
-anxiety and stress as a result of obsessions and compulsions -often accompanied by depression - negative emotions like excessive guilt over minor moral issues |
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Behavioural characteristics of OCD |
The behavioural component is compulsive behaviour. -compulsions are repetitive. Sufferers feel compelled to repeat behaviour eg checking, counting etc. - compulsions reduce anxiety. Eg compulsive checking that a door has been locked is a response to the obsessive thoughts that might have been left unsure. |
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Cognitive characteristics of OCD |
-obsessive thoughts eg contamination fears, fear of harm coming to loved ones. -insight. People suffering from OCD are aware their behaviour isn't rational . If someone believed their obsessive thoughts are real this would be a different disorder. |
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Categories of OCD |
1. Trichotillomania- compulsive hair pulling 2. Hoarding disorder- compulsively collecting possessions regardless of value 3. Excoriation disorder- compulsive skin picking 4. OCD- either obsessions and/ or compulsions |
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The biological approac to explaining OCD |
This approach focuses on explaining OCD with genetic inheritance and neural function. Genetic explanations- genes make up chromosomes and consist of DNA which codes the physical features of an organism and psychological features. Genes are transmitted from parents to offspring. Lewis observed that of his OCD patients 37% had parents with OCD and 21% had siblings with it. The diathesis-stress model states if you have certain genes you're more likely to experience a mental disorder however this would only occur if you have been triggered as a traumatic first. The genes that may be responsible for OCD are COMT (regulates production of neurotransmitter) and SERT (affects transport of seratonin). Neural explanations- the Beowulf that physical and psychological characteristics are determined by the behaviour of the nervous system, in particular the brain and individual neurons. The neurotransmitter that been linked with OCD is serotonin which is responsible for regulating mood. This could cause OCD if the levels are too low and relevant information about mood doesn't relay with other mental processes. This can sometimes impair decision making skills. |
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Evaluation of biological approach explaining OCD |
1. There's evidence for the idea some people are vulnerable to OCD because if genetic makeup. One of the best sources for the importance of genes comes from twin studies. Nestadt et al reviewed previous twin studies and found 68% of twins shared OCD opposed to 31% of non identical twins which strongly suggests a genetic influence in OCD. 2. Genetic studies are often flawed in their methodology. This is because they assume identical twins are more similar in terms of genes compared to non identical ones but forget identical twins may also be similar in terms of environment. Therefore twin studies might be the best evidence for the biological explanation of OCD. 3. it seems that environmental factors can also trigger or increase the risk of OCD (diathesis-stress model) . Eg Cromer et al found over half his OCD patients in their sample had a traumatic experience in their past and that OCD was more severe with more than one trauma. Thus suggests OCD can't be entirely genetic by origin and could also be due to environmental causes. |
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What is depression? |
A mental disorder characterised by low mood and energy levels |
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Emtiinal characteristics of depression |
-feeling empty -feeling ashamed -low confidence |
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Behavioural characteristics of depression |
-avoiding doing activities -waking up in night -Little appetite -self medication |
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Cognitive characteristics of depression |
- negative thinking -thinking people are judging -lack of motivation - lack of concentration |
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Catagories of depression |
Major depressive disorder- severe and short term Persistent depressive disorder- long term or keeps coming back Disruptive mood regulation disorder- childhood (severe) temper tantrums Premenstrual dysphoric disorder- mood disruption prior or during menstruation |
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The cognitive approach to explaining depression |
Believes the disorder is a result of disturbance in thinking. They focus on negative thohghts, irrational beliefs and misinterpretation of events that cause depression. Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis did research into this (seperate flash card). |
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Albert Ellis - cognitive approach to explaining depression |
Ellis thought good mental health was the result of rational thinking. He argued there are common irrational beliefs that underlie depression and sufferers have based their lives on these beliefs (eg I must be successful in everything to be worthwhile). Ellis used the ABC model to explain how irrational thoughts affect behaviour and emotional state. A: activating event. We get despressed when we experience negative events and they trigger irrational beliefs. B: beliefs. He identified a range of irrational beleifs (eg thinking we must always succeed. C: concequences. When an activating event triggers an irrationalb belief there are emotional and behavioural concequences. |
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Evaluation of Becks cognitive explanation of depression |
1. It has good supporting evidence. A large amount of research has soppurted the proposal that depression is associated with faulty information processing, negative self schemas and the negative triad. Clark and Beck (1999) reviewed research on this topic and concluded there's solid evidence to support all 3 factors. 2. Has practical application in CBT. Becks cognitive explanation forms the basis of CBT. All cognitive aspects of depression can be challenged in CBT. These include the negative triad that is easily identifyable which means therapists can challenge them and encourage patients to test whether their true. This means it translates well into therapy. 3. Doesn't explain all aspects of depression. The theory explains basic symptoms of depression but it's a complex disorder with a range of symptoms, all of which can't be explained. Some sufferers of depression suffer from hullusinations and bizzare beliefs which isn't explained by Becks theory. |
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Evaluation of Ellis's cognitive explanation of depression |
1. Only offers a partial explanation. Some depression does occur due to an activating event however not all depression is due to an obvious cause. This means Ellis's explanation only applies to some kinds of depression and is only a partial explanation. 2. It has practical application in CBT. Ellis's explanation has led to sicessful therapy as irrational and negative beliefs are challenged and can help to reduce depressive symptoms. This is supported by research and supports Ellis's basic theory. 3. Doesn't explain all aspects of depression. Doesn't explain why some individuals experience anger associated with depression or why some patients suffer from hallucinations. This is a similar limitation to Beck. |
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Cognitive approach to treating depression (CBT) |
Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is most commonly used as treatment for depression as well as other mental health problems. This is based on both behavioural and cognitive techniques. The therapist aims to make the client aware of the relationship between thought, emotion and actions. CBT can help to change how people think and what they do, it helps to break the vicious circle of negative thinking, feelings and behaviour. It looks at the here and now problems instead of looking at the past and shows sequences and can be changed. It helps people to work out their own ways of tackling problems. A diagram of what it involves is shown above. 5-20 sessions are usually held. They work with both Beck and Ellis's research. |
