Cards (2)

  • Real-world application
    One strength of statistical infrequency is its usefulness:
    • It is used in both diagnosis and to assess severity of symptoms
    • E.g. Beck depression index (BDI). A score of 30+ is interpreted as severe depression
  • Unusual characteristics can be positive
    One limitation of statistical infrequency is that infrequent characteristics can be positive as well as negative:
    • E.g. someone with an IQ of over 130 is infrequent, just as a score of below 70 is. Or someone with a low score on the BDI.
    • These examples show that being at one end of the spectrum does not necessarily make someone abnormal
    • Therefore, statistical infrequency is not sufficient as a sole basis for defining abnormality