Psychology Vs Abnormal Psychology Essay

Improved Essays
What is Psychology? Psychology cannot simply or easily be defined nor can it be easily characterised. This age long dilemma of the purpose of Psychology is what scientists and philosophers have tried to understand. An attempt to understand the minds and behaviours of man from the most primitive mind to the most complex one but for this paper, we will use the definition given by H. D. Hamm Ph.D., who authored and maintains a site for Northern Michigan University, defines psychology as the "scientific study of the behaviour of humans and animals". From the above, we can deduce that Psychology specifically looks at patterns of behaviours and seeks to understand these behaviours and mindsets of both humans and living organisms

For this paper, we are looking at two types of behaviours Normal and Abnormal behaviour. These behaviours may seem very straight forward but they are not and without attempting to be philosophical what is normal or abnormal? How do we justify a behaviour as normal and the other as abnormal because what is normal to Person A may be abnormal to Person B hence the question, is there a universal acceptable standards for measuring what is normal? The
…show more content…
They both had healthy appetite but now they don’t. They are both experiencing changes that defeats medical reasons however, their behaviour could be looked at from the behavioural model and as well as Psychodynamic model however, if we analyse these changes based on the abnormal behaviour criterion, it is very difficult to say that they have abnormal behaviour however, there is a deviation from their normal behaviour that calls for concern but this could be temporary and could have been caused by a medical condition or a sudden change in their lives. In all it extremely impossible to say these cases are clear cut cases that can be classified as abnormal more so, what is abnormal to one person may not be to

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Joshua Wee 10/11/15 Professor Salonga PSYCH 001 1. Anxiety disorder is a mental illness. People with this order have a continuous fear or worry. An example of this disorder that was portrayed in the video we watched was Walter he was a patient of Dr.Weston.…

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Keith E. Stanovich, the author of “How to Think Straight About Psychology,” explains different aspects of psychology to his readers in the first chapter of his book. He starts off by stating how Sigmund Freud is a fraud when it comes to psychology. Although Freud’s work in psychology is so little, he is the reason why many people misunderstand psychology. Then the chapter begins to talk about how psychology is composed of different topics and studies, and when there are many different topics it is difficult to link all of the topics into one. When psychology is often discussed, many people do not consider it a science.…

    • 726 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Psychology 101 Essay

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the beginning of second semester I was being introduced into Psychology 101 which I had no idea on what this course will be teaching. As I just know the word “PSY” it would be mentioning about physical or something to do with the body. Then, doing some research about what Psychology will be teaching about from YouTube. Also, reading some articles from this website on what they will be mentioning about what the body will reacts to some situations. In the past months as learning about the basic about Psychology 101 this would be an advantage in taking the next step of becoming a police officer which I could use it to think like a victim and mange an issue or situation into peace that everything could be resolved in a matter of a way.…

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    For hundreds of years, medical doctors, physiologists, and philosophers have always speculated and contemplated the psychological aspects of science and how it relates to people. It was only until about 130 years ago when psychology became an issue to be explored by applying and testing theories, scientific principles, and observations. Many perspectives developed in the late 19th century…

    • 1321 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Psychology is the scientific study of mental or behavioral characteristics of a single person or group. The theoretical perspective is one of the many perspectives of psychology which contains 7 different categories. Seven Perspectives The seven theoretical perspectives help define the way people act, feel, and think.…

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Does The Brain Work

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Since the 19th Century, many psychologist have tried to find out the same answer of how the brain works. But since then, psychology has pronged into many different perspectives. The goal of psychology is to describe, predict and control behavior. These perspectives include: Structuralism, Functionalism, Gestalt psychology, Behavioral Psychology, Psychoanalytic, Humanistic, Physiological Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Diversity, Environment Population and Conservation, and Modern Psychology. Modern Psychology is an eclectic approach to psychology it does not deal with a specific study.…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Psychology is a a complex science which studies the mind and behaviour of an individual. Psychologists have established 5 approaches to understand the human mind and behaviour: the behaviour approach, which only focuses on the different behaviours of each individual, , the cognitive approach, which concentrates on the way the mind processes knowledge, memory and language learning, after, the psychodynamic approach, which studies the impact of emotions and feelings on a person’s mind or behaviour, then on, the biological approach which analyses the genes and neurological functions in our brain which can explain our behaviour, and finally the humanistic approach which studies the person in whole, not just the mind of the person. This essay will take a particular interest in the strengths and weakness of 2 psychological approaches, the behaviour approach and the cognitive approach. It would be quite interesting to start this essay with the…

    • 1244 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Psychology is the scientific study of the human mind and its functions. Wilhelm Wundt first began research for psychology psychologists have developed from around the world to bring us five main perspectives of psychology, known as, the five schools of thought. The five schools of thought help people to understand why people do certain motions, how people interact with each other, where we develop our mannerisms, and to have a deeper understanding of the human mind, through: biological, psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive and humanistic perspectives. Biological psychology is the study of the physiological bases of behavior, which follows “the relationship between psychological processes and the underlying psychological events” (Britannica,…

    • 838 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    On the afternoon of Monday, August 26th my boyfriend Joe and I met for lunch while he was on break from work. We decided on a restaurant in Pacific Place mall called Mexico Cantina where we frequent often. We approached the entrance but he stopped then turned around and told me we needed to go somewhere else. I was confused about the sudden change of plans until I looked over and saw Brigette and a group of other females sitting at a table next to the railing that overlooks the restaurant and the mall.…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Psychology is the study of the behavior and mind of all living organisms. Perspectives are made in psychology in order for us to be able to have a better understanding of human behavior. These “theories” help contribute to studying how people think, feel, and behave. Three of the main perspectives include behaviorism, which is the study of people’s behavior, humanistic, which is the study of the potential good in everyone, and cognitive, the study of mental processes. Behaviorism is one of the perspectives used to help get a better understanding of people.…

    • 965 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ethics and Behaviorism Psychology made remarkable transformations throughout the years, from the early beginnings of philosophical thinking to the more modern scientific method, psychology has been relentless; constantly changing and growing into the psychology that is known and respected today. Though all branches of psychology are important, behaviorism has its own special place in history. Behaviorism took over the world in the 1900’s, more specifically the world of psychology, and the man who led this take over was John Watson. Watson is the official founder of behaviorism because he fought to establish not only himself but also his new form of psychology (Schultz & Schultz, 2011). Many people were fascinated with Watson and his ideas,…

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Psychological disorders and mental health issues in today’s society affect many people in a variety of ways. Many people in society are often stigmatized and labeled because of a psychological disorder shunning them from society, the work place, schools, friends, and more. However, recently through my research I see how many people are working their jobs, handling their careers, never stop working and aspiring with their goals, and face varied challenges at home, work, and out socially using a variety of therapies from medications, to psychologist visits, and even psychotherapy. There are over four hundred types of psychological disorders.…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In psychology, it is stated many times, throughout many publications, that it is difficult to define abnormality. In contrast, I also find it true that it is even more difficult to define normal. In class, we have discussed the ten criteria of abnormality. In my opinion, this stands as a way to define abnormality.…

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Psychology covers many areas in the scientific world, with some of the major areas being Developmental, Cognitive, Behavioral and Social Psychology. These subgroups go into detail about the human behavior, thoughts, and patterns displayed throughout the course of a lifetime. Though it is said to not be a science, all the properties suggest otherwise, with its basis founded on by Wilhelm Wundt, and research methods based purely on scientific methods, it is plain to see that it is a science. Developmental Psychology is the study of how and why humans develop over their lifetime, exploring the behavioral changes from birth until death. A considerable amount of focus is on childhood, in that most changes occur during this time.…

    • 1655 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Discuss your views and commentary on the issues surrounding the historiography of psychology. What is psychology? To begin, psychology is the scientific study of the human mind and its processes, including behavior. To be more explicit psychology is a complex, diverse, and in-depth disciplinary that has grown dramatically in its area of interests since its founding. What I particularly appreciate most about this discipline is the comprehensive list of subfields within its branch of division.…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays