psychopathology

• what are the four definitions of abnormality?


  statistical infrequency, deviation from social norms, failure to function adequately & deviation from ideal mental health
• statistical infrequency


  abnormal behaviours are statistically rare or uncommon

  • uses normal distribution to show the proportions of people who share specific behaviours or characteristics

  • anyone who falls outside normal distribution (usually about 5% of population) are perceived as abnormal

  e.g 1% of general population have schizophrenia
• evaluation of statistical infrequency pt 1


  • clear and easy to use - offers a clear cut way of distinguishing between normal & abnormal behaviour - e.g assessment of patients with mental disorders all include some kind of measurement of symptom severity

  • requires a subjective judgement on where the cut off should be - people may disagree where this cut off point should be - e.g difficulty sleeping is a symptom of depression but decision of whether they have to sleep 80% less than population or 90% is subjective - cannot be truly objective
• evaluation of statistical infrequency pt 2

  • defines positive characteristics as abnormal - unable to distinguish between desirable and undesirable behaviours - very few people have IQ over 150 but this would see them as abnormal

  • may be ethnocentric - behaviours statistically infrequent in one culture may be quite frequent in another - sz symptom of hearing voices may be common in other cultures - reliable definition should be consistent
• deviation from social norms

  • defines someone as abnormal if they behave in a way that is seen as unacceptable by the majority

  • social norms = accepted standards of behaviour in society

  • either explicit & written or implicit, unwritten and generally expected

  • abnormality seen as someone who breaks these societal rules e.g OCD
• evaluation of deviation from social norms pt 1


  • social norms change over time - behaviours seen as acceptable today may change in the future - e.g homosexuality was classed as a mental illness in america til 1973 - reliable definition should be consistent over time

  • ethnocentric - norms in one culture may be different in another - e.g women in suri tribe in ethiopia wear lip plates - this would be seen as unacceptable in western society

  • fails to distinguish between deviance and psychological abnormality - many behaviours are deviant but not psychological abnormalities e.g drink driving
• evaluation of deviation from social norms pt 2 


  • seen as more appropriate than statistical infrequency - includes the issue of desirability of behaviour e.g a genius is statistically abnormal but most people wouldn’t regard these socially desirable traits as abnormal - more useful in defining abnormality
• failure to function adequately

  • defines someone as abnormal if they are unable to cope with everyday life

  • their behaviour prevents them from being able to work & conduct satisfying relationships

  • 4 key characteristics

  • e.g depression - show distress through mood, angry towards others for no reason, sufferers may eat less.
• what are the 4 key characteristics of failure to function adequately


  • distress - to themselves or others

  • unpredictable behaviour - unexpected e.g crying for no reason

  • maladaptive behaviour - dysfunctional behaviour

  • irrational behaviour - behaviour doesn’t make sense to others
• what is the memory aid for the 4 characteristics of failure to function adequately?


  DUMI
• who suggested the 4 key characteristics of failure to function adequately

  rosenhan and seligman
• evaluation of failure to function adequately pt 1 


  • failure to function doesn’t always equal psychological ab normality - may be due to external factors - holding down a job may be impossible due to discrimination at work - environmental factors may cause failure to function

  • mental disorders do not always prevent a person from functioning - some people with mental illnesses still live relatively normal - e.g anorexics manage their daily life without showing clear signs of maladaptive or irrational behaviour
• evaluation of failure to function adequately pt 2 


  • includes the patients perspective - acknowledges that experience of patient is important - e.g level of distress experienced is considered when defining their behaviour as abnormal - useful way of assessing abnormality

  • may be ethnocentric - behaviour that doesn’t make sense to people from one culture might make sense to people from another e.g african-caribbean groups 8x more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia due to white psychiatrists judging cultural differences as irrational
• deviation from ideal mental health


  • doesnt define abnormality directly but attempts to define the criteria required for normality

  • people who lack these criteria are classed as abnormal

  • jahoda identified 6 characteristics for optimal living

  • e.g PTSD - lack of perception of reality due to flashbacks
• what are jahoda’s six characteristics for optimal living


  • autonomy - independence

  • perception of reality - ability to see the world as it is

  • resistance to stress - ability to cope with stressful situations

  • mastery of environment - ability to adjust to new situations

  • self attitudes - high self esteem

  • self actualisation - focussed on fulfilling full potential
• what is the memory aid for jahoda’s six characteristics for optimal living

  ARRMSS
• evaluation of deviation from ideal mental health pt 1


  • characteristics are too idealistic - criteria set too high - maslow argued only a few people ever achieve self actualisation - would consider most of us abnormal

  • ethnocentric - may be based on and limited to one culture - reflect western individualistic culture and not collectivist cultures - whole cultures may be seen as abnormal

  • requires subjective judgement on how many criteria need to be lacking to be seen as abnormal - left to individual psychiatrists - could lead to inconsistency
• evaluation of deviation from ideal mental health pt 2 


  • offers a positive perspective - focuses on desirable behaviours rather than undesirable ones - sets out criteria we should aspire to achieve to be psychologically healthy - provides useful focus for improving mental health
• what is a phobia?

  • an anxiety disordered characterised by excessive fear and anxiety triggered by an object, place or situation
• emotional characteristics of phobias? 


  anxiety - unpleasant state of high distress

  unreasonable emotional response - fear is often disproportionate to the actual danger from the phobic stimulus
• cognitive characteristics of phobias?


  irrational beliefs - beliefs that are not logical & don’t make sense to others

  selective attention - find it difficult to focus their attention away from the phobic stimulus
• behavioural characteristics of phobias?


  avoidance - go out of their way to avoid the phobic stimulus to reduce anxiety e.g someone with a social phobia may avoid certain social situations

  panicking - panic in response to the phobic stimuli e.g crying, screaming, running away
• what is depression? 


  mood disorder characterised by sad, depressed mood as well as a loss of interest & pleasure in usual activities, low energy levels & feelings of worthlessness
• emotional characteristics of depression?


  sad, depressed mood - sadness combined with feelings of emptiness, worthlessness & low self esteem

  anger - anger towards oneself (e.g self harm) or others
• cognitive characteristics of depression?


  negative schema - negative thoughts & expectations about their lives, relationships & the world in general

  poor concentration - unable to stick to a task or make decisions
• behavioural characteristics of depression?


  disruption of sleep & eating - insomnia/hypersomnia as well as an increase/decrease in appetite

  activity levels - low energy levels e.g withdrawal from work or high energy levels e.g agitation or restlessness
• what is OCD? 


  obsessive compulsive disorder

  • an anxiety disorder characterised by obsessions (persistent thoughts) and/or compulsions (repetitive behaviours)
• emotional characteristics of OCD?

  anxiety - unpleasant state of high distress e.g obsessive thoughts can be frightening and cause overwhelming stress

  reduction of anxiety - reduced when compulsive behaviours are carried out - the reduction causes repetition of the compulsive behaviours
• cognitive characteristics of OCD?


  obsessions - persistent recurring internal thoughts - could be ideas (e.g germs are everywhere) or doubts (worrying that something important was overlooked)

  irrational beliefs - illogical beliefs that doesn’t make sense to others - sufferers do recognise these are excessive & unreasonable
• behavioural characteristics of OCD? 


  compulsive behaviours - externally visible & repetitive e.g repetitive counting, tidying or hand washing

  avoidance - going out of their way to avoid situations which trigger anxiety
• what is the behaviourist approach to explaining phobias?


  two process model

  involves classical conditioning & operant conditioning

  phobias learnt through classical & maintained through operant
• learning phobias via classical conditioning 


  • learning by association

  • little albert study

  • albert had no fear at start of the study as played with rat at start

  • made a loud, frightening noise by banging an iron bar close to albert’s head everytime presented him with the rat

  • noise = unconditioned stimulus producing unconditioned response of fear

  • rat = neutral stimulus

  • learned to associate the rat with the noise

  • rat produced fear regardless of the noise
• maintaining phobias via operant conditioning

  • learning through reinforcement

  • positive reinforcement = addition of something positive

  • negative reinforcement = removal of something negative

  • negative reinforcement - sufferers avoid phobic stimuli - removal of something negative (fear) - this reduction of anxiety reinforces avoidance behaviour
• evaluation of behavioural two process model


  • scientific

  • practical applications - systematic desensitisation - behaviours can be unlearned - 75% showed improvement

  • doesn’t explain all phobias - phobias with an underlying evolutionary component may not have been learned through experience e.g fears of the dark/heights may be result of evolution

  • reductionist

  • humane as environmentally determinist - phobias caused by factors outside our control - may have been programmed by environment to develop the phobia - removes blame
• what are the two behavioural treatments for phobias?

  systematic desensitisation & flooding
• systematic desensitisation

  • assumes phobias can be unlearned

  • treatment is step by step to replace learned fear with a harmless response

  • reciprocal inhibition - impossible to afraid and relaxed simultaneously

  • teaches client relaxation techniques

  • develops an anxiety hierarchy

  • start with least fearful and work way up

  • learns to associate relaxation with the stimuli
• evaluation of systematic desensitisation 


  • extremely effective for many phobias - 75% improvement - works in most cases

  • not an effective treatment for all phobias - phobias with an underlying evolutionary component are not as easily treated - e.g fears of the dark or heights

  • beneficial for the economy - mental health issues cost economy around £22.5 billion a year - any effective treatment could help reduce this - sd might reduce unnecessary healthcare costs on treatments that don’t work

  • ethical issues

  • preferred to flooding - doesn’t cause same degree of trauma as flooding
• flooding


  • one long session where the phobias is experienced at its worst while practising relaxation at the same time

  • session continues til patient feels completely relaxed

  • e.g a person afraid of spiders may have a large one crawl over them for an extended period

  • can last for 2-3 hours
• evaluation of flooding


  • effective at treating many phobias - shown to be at least as effective as SD - choy found more effective than SD

  • cost effective - relatively cheap as only requires one session

  • ethical issues

  • not effective for all phobias - complex phobias such as social phobias can’t be treated with flooding - flooding only treats simple phobias and not social phobias with cognitive aspects

  • relaxation may not be necessary - success due to the exposure and expectation of being able to cope - Klein found supportive psychotherapy was as effective
• what are the 2 parts of the cognitive approach to explaining depression? 


  beck’s negative triad & ellis’s ABC model