A03 - SI

• Strength = Real-life application

  • provides an objective measure for abnormality
  • once cut off point agreed = objective way of deciding who is abnormal
  • e.g. diagnosis of intellectual disability disorder requires an IQ below 70
  • e.g. Beck depressive inventory widely interprets a score of 30+ as an indication of severe depression
• Limitation = some abnormal behaviours are desirable

  • frequency/ infrequency of certain traits doesn‘t correlate with assumed desirability or abnormality of said characteristics
  • e.g. very few people have IQ over 150 yet deemed desirable
  • conversely some normal behaviours are undesirable
  • e.g. depression is very common and so doesn’t meet criteria of being found in very few people
  • statistical infrequency best used in conjunction with other tools to define abnormality
• Limitation = cultural bias

  • has an imposed etic of whatever culture is measuring the behaviour (usually western cultures)
  • does not consider cultural factors in determining abnormal behaviour - what is normal in one culture may be seen as abnormal in another
  • behaviours that were statistically rare many years ago may not be now
  • could run risk of being era-dependent by adopting a statistical norm based on behaviours that may later become outdated
• What are the strengths of statistical infrequency?

  1. Real-life application
• What are the limitations of statistical infrequency?

  1. Some abnormal behaviours are desirable
  2. Cultural bias