ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGYCh. 1 & 2

What Is Normal/Abnormal? Unusualness of behavior/Deviation

from average Cultural relativism/Deviation from ideal Subjective Discomfort Inability to function/Maladaptiveness

Gender Role Expectations How are men expected to act? What

types of behaviors are discouraged?

How are women encouraged to act? What types of behaviors are discouraged?

Maladaptiveness

Does the behavior prevent normal daily functioning?

Does the person suffer distress? Is there emotional or physical harm?

Historical Perspectives

Biological theories Similar to physical disease

Supernatural theories Divine intervention, curses, demonic

possession, and personal sin. Psychological theories

Mental disorders as the result of trauma(s).

Ancient Theories

Stone age Spirit possession Trephination

Ancient China Yin and Yang

Ancient Theories, continued

Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome Dominated by natural theories Hysteria/”hysteron”

Medieval views Witchcraft Psychic epidemics

She's a Witch!

The Growth of Asylums (Renaissance)

12th century – rooms for people w/mental disorders Treatment was often inhumane

Asylums were established and run by people who thought mental disorders were medical illnesses

18th century – more moral treatment of patients Psychological view

People become mad b/c they are separated from nature & succumb to the stresses imposed by rapid social changes of the time period

Modern Perspectives New classification systems

Biological, psychological & social theories Psychoanalytic perspective

Roots in mesmerism Roots of behaviorism

Wilhelm Wundt Classical vs. Operant Conditioning

Cognitive revolution The Lobotomist (1940s)

Patient’s Rights Movement (1960s) Mental patients could recover more fully

or live more satisfying lives if they were integrated into the community, with the support of community-based treatment facilities.

JFK - 1963

Feedback Loops

Contemporary TheoriesPsychological Emphasis on psychological

factors, such as early childhood experience and

self-concept

BiologicalEmphasis on

biological processes (i.e.,

genetics)

SocialEmphasis on interpersonal

relationships and social

environment

Feedback Loops

Feedback Loops

Disorder

Vulnerability

Factor Trigger

Biological genes, disordered biochemistry, brain anomalies)

onset of a disease, exposure to toxins, etc.

Social maladaptive upbringing, chronic stress, etc.

traumatic event, major loss, etc.

Psychological unconscious conflicts, poor skills, maladaptive cognitions, etc,

perceived loss of control, violation of trust, etc.

Stress

Contemporary Theories, cont.

Structural Theories

Biochemical Theories

Genetic Theories

Abnormalities in the structure of the brain cause mental disordersImbalances in the levels of neurotransmitters or hormones, or poor functioning of receptors cause mental disorders

Disordered genes lead to mental disorders

Biological Theories of Mental Disorders

Structural Causes of Dysfunction Can occur in three areas of the brain:

Cerebrum Central core Limbic system

Can result from injury or disease

Biochemical Causes of Abnormality

Behavior Genetics Questions To what extent are behaviors or

behavioral tendencies inherited? What are the processes by which genes

affect behavior?

Family History Studies Identify people who clearly have the

disorder in question – probands. Researchers are most interested in

first-degree relatives. Problems?

Psychodynamic Theories

Behavioral Theories

Cognitive Theories

Unconscious conflicts between primitive desires and constraints of mental illnessSymptoms of mental disorders due to reinforcements and punishments for specific behaviors and feelingsPeople’s ways of interpreting situations, their assumptions about the world and self-concepts can cause negative feelings / behaviorsHumanist and

Existential Theories

Conform to demands of others insteadof pursuing own values and potentials

Psychological Theories of Mental Disorders

Psychodynamic Theories Developed by Freud

Id pleasure principle

Ego reality principle

Superego conscience & ego ideal

Psychosexual StagesStages Age

Oral 0-18 months

Anal 18 months to three years

Phallic Three to six years

Latency Six years to puberty

Genital Puberty to adulthood

Newer Psychodynamic Theories: Object Relations

Stages Undifferentiated Symbiosis Separation/Individuation Integration

Behavioral Theories of Abnormality Classical Conditioning

Pavlov John B. Watson

Operant Conditioning E.L. Thorndike (Law of Effect) B.F. Skinner

Modeling & Observational Learning Albert Bandura

Cognitive Theories of Abnormality Types of cognition

Causal attributions Control beliefs Dysfunctional assumptions

Some Common Dysfunctional Assumptions

I should be loved by everyone

for everything I

do.

Once something affects my life, it will affect it forever.

I must have perfect self

control.

It is better to avoid problems

than to face them.

I should be terribly

upset by certain

situations.

Humanistic & Existential Theories

Suggest that all humans strive to fulfill their potential for good and to self-actualize.

The inability to fulfill one’s potential arises from the pressures of society to conform to others’ expectations and values, and from existential anxiety.

Interpersonal Theories

Family Systems Theories

Social Structural Theories

Mental disorders result of long-standing patterns of negative relationships that have roots in early caregivers

Families create and maintain mental disorders in individual family members to maintain homeostasis.

Societies create mental disorders in individuals by putting them under unbearable stress and by sanctioning abnormal behavior

Sociocultural Approaches

Sociocultural Approaches: Interpersonal Theory

Alfred Adler Erik Erikson

8 Stages of Man Harry Stack Sullivan

Prototypes – “good me”, “bad me”, “not me”

John Bowlby Attachment Theory

Sociocultural Approaches: Family Systems Theory

The family is a complex system that works to maintain the status quo, or homeostasis.

Roots of disorder are within the family, not the individual.

Family systems theories may be more applicable to treatment of children since they are more enmeshed in the family than other members of the family.

Sociocultural Approaches: Social Structures Theory

Society increases stress on individuals, leading to disorders.

Some people live in more chronically stressful circumstances than others, and these people appear to be at greater risk (Gabrino, 1995; NAMHC, 1996).

Society influences the types of psychopathy by having rules about what types of abnormal behavior are acceptable and in what circumstances.