Psychopathology

• Psychopathology Student Pack
• Definitions of Abnormality


  • Deviation from Social Norms
  • Statistical Infrequency
  • Failure to Function
  • Deviation from Ideal Mental Health
• Social norm


  Rules of behaviour that are considered acceptable in a group or society
• Deviation from social norms is viewed as abnormal
• Social norms vary tremendously from one generation to another and from one country to another
• Relying on deviation from social norms to define mental illness can lead to systematic abuse of human rights
• Statistical infrequency


  Behaviour that is statistically rare is regarded as abnormal, whereas frequent behaviour is normal
• The normal distribution curve shows the majority of people as being in the middle, with relatively few people falling at either end
• Scores outside the normal range (2 standard deviations) are defined as abnormal
• Statistical infrequency does not classify whether all behaviour is undesirable
• The cut-off point for statistical infrequency is subjectively determined and usually arbitrary
• Statistical infrequency is culturally relative
• Failure to function adequately


  A person is considered abnormal if they are unable to cope with the demands of normal everyday life
• Criteria for inadequate functioning


  • Maladaptive behaviour
  • Vivid and unconventional behaviour
  • Unpredictability
  • Irrationality/incomprehensibility
  • Observer discomfort
  • Personal distress
  • Violation of moral/social standards
• It is difficult to say when someone is really failing to function and when they are just deviating from social norms
• The definition of failure to function adequately requires subjective judgement
• Deviation from ideal mental health

  A person is considered abnormal if they do not meet all or most of the criteria for good mental health
• Criteria for ideal mental health


  • Autonomy
  • Resistance to stress
  • Accurate perception of reality
  • Positive attitude towards self
  • Self actualisation
  • Adapting to and mastering the environment
• Jahoda's classification of ideal mental health is culturally relative
• The definition of deviation from ideal mental health sets an unrealistically high standard for mental health
• Personal autonomy is not valued in all cultures
• Limitation of a definition of abnormality
• Methods used by psychologists to define abnormality


  1. Outline

  2. Briefly explain

  3. Discuss
• Features of the ideal mental health definition of abnormality


  • Self actualisation
  • Resistance to stress
  • Emotional happiness
  • Personal autonomy
• Liam's behaviour of touching and counting every lamp post

  Deviation from social norms
• Phobia


  A type of anxiety disorder where the adaptive fear response to a potentially threatening object or situation has become extreme and debilitating
• Common phobias


  • Arachnophobia (fear of spiders)
  • Agoraphobia (fear of open or crowded spaces)
• Cognitive characteristics of phobias


  • Thought processes are irrational, causing them to respond in a manner that is out of proportion to the actual danger
  • Sufferer recognises their response is excessive but unable to control it
  • Selective attention where they can only focus on the object of their fear
• Behavioural characteristics of phobias

  • Avoidance of the anxiety provoking object or situation
  • Panic which may involve crying, screaming or running away
• Emotional characteristics of phobias


  • Extreme fear, distress and anxiety
• Two or more characteristics of phobias
• One cognitive, one behavioural and one emotional characteristic of Jessica's phobia of spiders
• Two-process model


  Explains how phobias are initiated through classical conditioning and maintained through operant conditioning
• Initiation of phobias through classical conditioning


  1. Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) that creates fear (unconditioned response (UCR)) is paired with a neutral stimulus (NS)

  2. Neutral stimulus (NS) becomes a conditioned stimulus and creates a conditioned response of fear
• Maintenance of phobias through operant conditioning


  Negative reinforcement - the fear response is strengthened because it removes the unpleasant anxiety
• Evidence supporting the two-process model
• Strengths of the behaviourist explanation of phobias


  • Practical applications for treatment
  • Systematic desensitisation and flooding are effective treatments
• Limitations of the behaviourist explanation of phobias
• Preparedness


  Suggests we are biologically pre-programmed to fear certain things that would have threatened our survival in our evolutionary past
• Cognitive factors in the development of phobias