Abnormal Psychology

1. Abnormal Psychology Dr. David M. McCord Paradigms

2. Quick Review • We looked at definitions of “abnormal” • Statistical, violation of norms, personal distress, dysfunction, unexpectedness • We then reviewed the history of how abnormal behavior has been viewed and treated in the past • Early demonology • Hippocrates and rise of somatogenesis • Dark ages and return to demonology • Renaissance, development of asylums, Pinel • Benjamin Rush in Philadelphia • Somatic therapies of the 1930’s and 1940’s • This brings us to modern era • Modern somatogenesis (Kraepelin, “syndrome”) • Modern psychogenesis (Mesmer, Charcot)

3. Scientific Paradigms • Paradigms are conceptual frameworks that scientists use to study the world • Paradigms include assumptions about science and methods • A general perspective or approach • Paradigms dictate what will and will not be studied (e.g. few scientists study ESP today) • Paradigms can dictate the methods used by a scientist (introspection versus experimentation) • Affects the interpretation of facts and findings • Psychology has yet to settle on a universally accepted paradigm, so we continue to consider several …

4. Biological paradigm – • Medical model, somatogenic approach • Mental problems caused by abnormal biological processes • Psychodynamic paradigm – • Freud, psychogenic approach • Mental problems caused by psychological issues • Behavioral Paradigm • Psychogenic, classical & operant conditioning • Cognitive paradigm • Psychogenic, Beck, Ellis, CBT • Humanistic/Existential paradigm – • Psychogenic, Rogers, Gestalt • Sociocultural Paradigm • Family system, cultural background, labels

5. The Biological Paradigm • The biological paradigm (medical model) suggests that alterations of biological processes result in abnormal behavior • Biological processes may include: • Heredity • Imbalances of brain chemistry • Disordered development of brain structures

6. Nerve Signaling • Neurons signal information by releasing packets of chemical transmitters from the axon terminal • Chemical molecules bind to receptors on the membrane of adjacent nerve cells • Binding in turn changes the electrical activity of the adjacent cell and can trigger an action potential • A reuptake process in the axon membrane takes up excess chemical for reuse

7. Fig 2.2

8. Abnormal behavior could result from: • Too much of a specific neurotransmitter in the synapse, due to excessive synthesis • Too little of a specific neurotransmitter in the synapse, due to deficient synthesis • Too much of a specific neurotransmitter due to inhibited reuptake of the transmitter • Too many or too few receptors on the postsynaptic neuron membrane • Neurotransmitters relevant to us include: • Norepinephrine • Serotonin • GABA • Dopamine • And many others…

9. The biological approach to treatment is usually to alter the biochemistry of the brain: • Drugs alter synaptic levels of neurotransmitters • Increase or decrease synthesis of transmitter • Increase by blocking enzymes that break down transmitter • Increase by blocking reuptake • Block receptor sites

10. The Psychoanalytic Paradigm • The core assumption of the psychoanalytic paradigm is that abnormal behavior reflects unconscious conflicts within the person • Drives such as sex and aggression come into conflict with laws, social rules, and moral codes. As we grow, we internalize these rules, so the conflicts are intrapsychic. • The psychoanalytic paradigm is derived from the theories of personality developed by Sigmund Freud

11. Sigmund Freud • Born May 6, 1856, Pribor, Moravia (now Czech Republic) • Moved to Vienna at age 4, for rest of life (80 years) • Graduated at 17, then 8 years in med school • Graduated in 1881, married, began practice • Planned to specialize in physiology and pathology, but became very interested in abnormal nervous system disorders • Good friend Josef Breuer (1842-1925) gave him advice and $$$, discussed patients, esp. Anna O. • Stumbled upon the “talking cure” and catharsis • Freud Web Links... • Freud Museum UK

12. Freud’s Model of the Mind • Freud suggested that the mind is composed of three parts: • Id is the raw energy that powers the mind • Id seeks gratification of basic urges for food, water, warmth, affection, and sex • Id processes are unconscious • Ego is a conscious part of the mind that deals with reality • Superego is the final part of the mind to emerge and is similar to the conscience

13. Repression – the automatic ejection from awareness of anxiety-provoking ideas. Protects us from recognizing and admitting our darker side, the urges we would consider inappropriate in light of our moral values. A primary and primitive defense mechanism. • Instincts – 2 classes • Eros – life instincts, help you to survive and reproduce (hunger, thirst, sex). • Thanatos – death instincts, “the goal of all life is death” – unconscious death wish – aggressive drives turned inward. • Eros contains the psychosexual energy, the libido, which flows into different parts of the body as you develop. A hydraulic paradigm, so to speak.

14. Freud argued that personality develops in stages: in each stage the id derives pleasure from a distinct part of the body • Oral (Birth to 18 months): infant derives pleasure from eating and biting • Anal (18 months to 3 years): the focus of pleasure is the anus • Phallic (3 to 6 years): the genitals are the focus of pleasure • Latent (6 to 12 years): id impulses are dormant • Genital: heterosexual interests are dominant

15. Defense Mechanisms I • Anxiety results from conflict between id impulses and expression of those impulses • Defense mechanisms reduce anxiety • Repression: impulses are made unconscious • Projection: person attributes their own impulses onto others • Denial: troubling experiences are made unconscious • Reaction formation: preventing the awareness or expression of unacceptable impulses by an exaggerated adoption of seemingly opposite behavior-attitudes-feelings • Displacement: Discharging pent-up feelings, often of hostility, on objects less dangerous than those arousing the feelings

16. Defense Mechanisms II • Sublimation: Converting sexual or aggressive impulses into socially acceptable, even valued, behaviors • Intellectualization: Cutting off affective charge from hurtful situations, or separating incompatible attitudes by logic-tight compartments • Rationalization: Using contrived “explanations” to conceal or disguise unworthy motives for one’s behavior • Fantasy: Gratifying frustrated desires by imaginary achievements • Emotional insulation: Reducing ego involvement by protective withdrawal and passivity • Undoing: Atoning for or magically trying to dispel unacceptable desires or acts • Regression: Retreating to an earlier developmental period involving less mature behavior and responsibility

17. Essentials of Classic Psychoanalytic Therapy • The goal of psychoanalysis is insight (understanding) of the basis for anxiety • Techniques of psychoanalytic therapy: • Free association: person says whatever comes to mind: the content is examined by the therapist for resistances (areas the person does not wish to talk about) • Dream analysis: Unconscious impulses are expressed during dreams • (segment 7)

18. Freud’s Disciples… • Carl Jung (1887-1961) • Swiss psychiatrist, broke ranks in 1914 • Collective unconscious, archetypes • “Analytical Psychology” • Alfred Adler (1870-1937) • Inferiority complex • “Individual Psychology” • Karen Horney • Focused on interpersonal relationships • Denied penis envy • Expelled from NY Psychoanalytic Institute

19. Freud’s Legacy • Freud contributions include the views that: • Childhood experiences help shape adult personality • There are unconscious influences on personality • Defense mechanisms help to control anxiety • The causes and purposes of human behavior are not always obvious

20. Humanistic/Existential Paradigms • Humanistic/existential paradigms focus on insight into the motivations/needs of the person • These paradigms place greater emphasis on the persons freedom of choice (free will) • The humanistic paradigm does not focus on how problems develop in a person

21. Assumptions of Roger’s Client-Centered Therapy • Client-centered therapy argues that: • People can only be understood from the vantage point of their own feelings • Healthy people are: • aware of their own behavior • innately good and effective • purposive and directive • Therapy creates conditions under which person makes independent decisions

22. Existential Therapy • The existential view emphasizes personal growth • The existential view notes that making choices results in anxiety • Existential therapy encourages clients to confront their anxieties and to make important decisions about how to relate to others

23. Gestalt Therapy • Fritz Perls • Help patients understand and accept their own needs, desires, fears, to enhance awareness of self • Focus on here and now, without delving into past – all that matters is now • Technique focused • (segment 8)

24. Learning Paradigms • Learning paradigms argue that abnormal behavior is learned as are normal behaviors • Classical conditioning • Operant conditioning • Modeling • Behaviorism focuses on the study of observable behavior • Watson website

25. Classical Conditioning

26. Fig 2.4

27. Operant Conditioning • Behaviors have consequences • Positive reinforcement: behaviors followed by pleasant stimuli are strengthened • Negative reinforcement: behaviors that terminate a negative stimulus are strengthened • Behavior can be shaped using method of successive approximations • Reward a series of responses that approximate the final response

28. Modeling • Learning can occur in the absence of reinforcers • Modeling involves learning by watching and imitating the behaviors of others • Models impart information to the observer • Children learn about aggression watching aggressive models

29. Behavior Therapy • Behavior therapy uses learning methods to change abnormal behavior, thoughts and feelings • Behavior therapists use classical and operant conditioning techniques as well as modeling • Counterconditioning: learning a new response • Systematic desensitization: relaxation is paired with a stimulus that formerly induced anxiety • Aversive conditioning: an unpleasant event is paired with a stimulus to reduce its attractiveness

30. Phobias – an example of paradigms • Little Hans • Little Albert • Little Peter

31. Cognitive Paradigm • Learner is an active interpreter of information • Schema • Beck’s cognitive therapy for depression • Ellis’s Rational Emotive Therapy • More generalized Cognitive Behavior Therapy is leading model of therapy today

32. Diathesis-Stress Paradigm • Focuses on the interaction between a predisposition to disease or disorder, and environmental events that lead toward, or away from, that disorder. • Diathesis usually refers to a genetic, biological, or constitutional vulnerability • Stressor can be major traumatic events as well as more normal life stresses • Integrates data from other paradigms…