Abnormal Psychology

1. Abnormal Psychology Ch. 1 & 2

2. What Is Normal/Abnormal? • Unusualness of behavior/Deviation from average • Cultural relativism/Deviation from ideal • Subjective Discomfort • Inability to function/Maladaptiveness

3. 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?

4. Maladaptiveness • Does the behavior prevent normal daily functioning? • Does the person suffer distress? • Is there emotional or physical harm?

5. 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).

6. Ancient Theories • Stone age • Spirit possession • Trephination • Ancient China • Yin and Yang

7. Ancient Theories, continued • Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome • Dominated by natural theories • Hysteria/”hysteron” • Medieval views • Witchcraft • Psychic epidemics She's a Witch!

8. 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

9. 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)

10. 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

11. Contemporary Theories Biological Emphasis on biological processes (i.e., genetics) Psychological Emphasis on psychological factors, such as early childhood experience and self-concept Feedback Loops Social Emphasis on interpersonal relationships and social environment Feedback Loops Feedback Loops

12. Contemporary Theories, cont. Vulnerability Stress Disorder

13. Structural Theories Abnormalities in the structure of the brain cause mental disorders Imbalancesin the levels of neurotransmitters or hormones, or poor functioning of receptors cause mental disorders Biochemical Theories Disordered genes lead to mental disorders Genetic Theories Biological Theories of Mental Disorders

14. Structural Causes of Dysfunction • Can occur in three areas of the brain: • Cerebrum • Central core • Limbic system • Can result from injury or disease

15. Biochemical Causes of Abnormality

16. Behavior Genetics Questions • To what extent are behaviors or behavioral tendencies inherited? • What are the processes by which genes affect behavior?

17. Family History Studies • Identify people who clearly have the disorder in question – probands. • Researchers are most interested in first-degree relatives. • Problems?

18. Psychological Theories of Mental Disorders Psychodynamic Theories Unconscious conflicts between primitive desires and constraints of mental illness Symptoms of mental disorders due to reinforcements and punishments for specific behaviors and feelings Behavioral Theories People’s ways of interpreting situations, their assumptions about the world and self-concepts can cause negative feelings / behaviors Cognitive Theories Humanist and ExistentialTheories Conform to demands of others instead of pursuing own values and potentials

19. Psychodynamic Theories • Developed by Freud • Id • pleasure principle • Ego • reality principle • Superego • conscience & ego ideal

20. Psychosexual Stages

21. Newer Psychodynamic Theories: Object Relations • Stages • Undifferentiated • Symbiosis • Separation/Individuation • Integration

22. 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

23. Cognitive Theories of Abnormality • Types of cognition • Causal attributions • Control beliefs • Dysfunctional assumptions

24. Some Common Dysfunctional Assumptions Once something affects my life, it will affect it forever. I should be loved by everyone for everything I do. It is better to avoid problems than to face them. I must have perfect self control. I should be terribly upset by certain situations.

25. 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.

26. Sociocultural Approaches Mental disorders result of long-standing patterns of negative relationships that have roots in early caregivers Interpersonal Theories Family Systems Theories Families create and maintain mental disorders in individual family members to maintain homeostasis. Social Structural Theories Societies create mental disorders in individuals by putting them under unbearable stress and by sanctioning abnormal behavior

27. 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

28. 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.

29. 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.