ABNORMAL
PSYCHOLOGY: AN
INTRODUCTION
MEGA MINDS PSYCHOLOGY REVIEW CENTER
Chapter Outline
Introduction and Historical
Review
I. Introduction to the Study of Mental Disorders
II. History of Psychopathology
III. The Evolution of Contemporary Thought
PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
Study of the nature, development, and
treatment of psychological disorders
Challenges in the study of psychopathology:
– Maintain objectivity
– Avoid preconceived notions
– Reduce stigma
Figure 1.1: Four Characteristics of Stigma
Defining Mental Disorder, DSM-5 Definition
The disorder occurs within the individual
It involves clinically significant difficulties in thinking,
feeling, or behaving
It involves dysfunction in processes that support
mental functioning
It is not a culturally specific reaction to an event (e.g.
death of a loved one)
It is not primarily a result of social deviance or conflict
with society
Defining Mental Disorder
Personal Distress
– The condition causes the individual distress
– Emotional pain and suffering
Helplessness and hopelessness of depression
Disability
– Impairment in a key area (e.g., work, relationships)
Chronic substance abuse results in job loss
Violation of Social Norms
– Makes others uncomfortable or causes problems
Antisocial behavior of the psychopath
Dysfunction
– Wakefield's Harmful Dysfunction: failure of internal
mechanisms in the mind to function properly
– Behavioral, psychological, and/or biological systems are
impaired
Figure 1.2: Key Characteristics in the
Definition of Mental Disorder
• Each characteristic tells us something
about what can be considered a mental
disorder, but no one by itself provides a
fully satisfactory definition.
History of Psychopathology
• Since the beginning of scientific inquiry
into mental disorders, supernatural,
biological, and psychological points of
view have vied for attention
History of Psychopathology
Early Demonology
– Possession by evil beings or spirits
Exorcism
Early Biological Explanations
– Hippocrates (5th century BC)
Mental disturbances have natural (not supernatural)
causes (problems with the brain)
Three categories of mental disorders: mania, melancholia, &
phrenitis (brain fever)
Normal brain functioning depended on balance of four humors:
blood, black bile, yellow bile, & phlegm
History of Psychopathology:
Dark Ages
Dark Ages (2nd century AD)
– Monks cared and prayed for mentally ill
Witches (13th century AD)
– Torture sometimes led to bizarre delusional
sounding confessions, e.g., concourse with
demons.
Initially, historians concluded many of the accused were
mentally ill.
Further research found little support for this conclusion.
History of Psychopathology:
Lunacy Trials
Lunacy Trials
– Trials held to determine sanity
Began in 13th century England
– Municipal authorities assumed responsibility for
care of mentally ill
– Lunacy attributes insanity to misalignment of moon
(“luna”) and stars
History of Psychopathology:
Asylums
Asylums (15th century)
– Establishments for the confinement and care of
mentally ill
– Priory of St. Mary of Bethlehem (founded in 1243)
One of the first mental institutions
The wealthy paid to gape at the insane
Origin of the term bedlam (wild uproar or confusion)
– Treatment non-existent or harmful at asylums
Benjamin Rush recommended drawing copious amounts of
blood, to relieve brain pressure
History of Psychopathology:
Pinel’s Reforms and Moral Treatment
Philippe Pinel (1745–1826)
– Pioneered humanitarian treatment at LaBicetre
Moral Treatment
– Small, privately funded, humanitarian mental
hospitals
Friends Asylum (1817)
Patients engaged in purposeful, calming activities (e.g.,
gardening)
Talked with attendants
History of Psychopathology:
Pinel’s Reforms and Moral Treatment
• Philippe Pinel and the (supposed) freeing
of patients at Le Bicêtre (later, it was found
that a former patient and orderly, Jean-Baptiste
Pussin, initiated this move)
• Pinel did the same thing at La Salpêtrière
History of Psychopathology:
Dorothea Dix
Dorothea Dix (1802–1887)
– Crusader for prisoners and mentally ill
– Urged improvement of institutions
– Worked to establish 32 new, public hospitals
– Unfortunately, small staffs at these new public
hospitals could not provide necessary individual
attention
– Hospitals administered by physicians, who were more
interested in biological rather than psychological
aspects of mental illness
The Evolution of Contemporary Thought:
Biological Approaches
General paresis and Syphilis
– Degenerative disorder with psychological symptoms
(delusions of grandeur) and physical symptoms (progressive
paralysis)
– By mid-1800’s, it was known that general paresis and
syphilis occurred together in some patients
– In 1905, biological cause of syphilis found
– Since general paresis had a biological cause, other mental
illnesses might also
Biological causes of psychopathology gained credibility
The Evolution of Contemporary Thought :
Genetics
Galton’s (1822–1911) work lead to notion that
mental illness can be inherited
– Nature (genetics) and nurture (environment)
– Eugenics
Promotion of enforced sterilization to eliminate
undesirable characteristics from the population
Many state laws required mentally ill to be sterilized
Early Biological Treatments
Insulin-coma therapy
– Sakel (1930’s)
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)
– Cerletti and Bini (1938)
– Induce epileptic seizures with electric shock
Prefrontal lobotomy
– Moniz (1935)
– Often used to control violent behaviors; led to
listlessness, apathy, and loss of cognitive abilities
The Evolution of Contemporary Thought:
Psychological Approaches
Mesmer (1734–1815)
– Treated patients with hysteria using “animal magnetism”
– Early practitioner of hypnosis
Charcot (1825–1893)
– His support legitimizes hypnosis as treatment for hysteria
Breuer (1842–1925)
– Used hypnosis to facilitate catharsis in Anna O.
– Cathartic Method
Release of emotional tension triggered by reliving and talking
about event
Freud
Breuer and Freud (1856–1939) jointly publish
“Studies in Hysteria” in 1895, which serves as
the basis for Freud’s theory.
Freudian or psychoanalytic theory
– Human behavior determined by unconscious
forces.
– Psychopathology results from conflicts among
these unconscious forces.
Freud’s Structures of the Mind
Id
– Unconscious
– Pleasure principle
Immediate gratification
– Libido
Energy of id
Ego
– Primarily conscious
– Reality principle
Attempt to satisfy id’s demands within reality’s constraints
Superego
– The conscience
– Develops as we incorporate parental and society values
Defense Mechanisms
Id, Ego, & Superego continually in conflict
– Conflict generates anxiety
– Ego generates strategies to protect itself from
anxiety
Defense mechanisms
Psychological maneuvers used to manage stress and
anxiety
Selected Defense Mechanisms
Psychoanalytic Therapy
Goals of Psychoanalytic Therapy or
Psychoanalysis
– Understand early-childhood experiences,
particularly key (parental) relationships
– Understand patterns in current relationships
Psychoanalytic Techniques
– Free Association
– Analysis of Transference
– Interpretation
Major Techniques of Psychoanalysis
Neo-Freudians
Jung (1875–1961)
– Analytical psychology
– Collective unconscious
Archetypes
– Catalogued personality characteristics
Extraversion vs. Introversion
Adler (1870–1937)
– Individual psychology
Fulfillment derived from working for the social good
Continuing Influences of Freud
and His Followers
Childhood experiences help shape adult
personality
There are unconscious influences on
behavior
The Evolution of Contemporary Thought: Rise
of Behaviorism
John Watson (1878–1958)
Behaviorism
– Focus on observable behavior
– Emphasis on learning rather than thinking or
innate tendencies
Three types of learning:
– Classical Conditioning
– Operant Conditioning
– Modeling
Classical Conditioning
Discovered by Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936)
– Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
Meat powder (automatically elicits salivation)
– Unconditioned Response (UR)
Salivation (automatic response to meat powder)
– Neutral Stimulus (NS)
Initial ringing of bell (does not automatically elicit
salivation)
– Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
After pairing the NS and the UCS, the NS becomes a
CS (bell now automatically elicits salivation)
– Conditioned Response (CR)
Salivation (automatic response to bell)
– Extinction
CS (bell) not followed by UCS (meat powder) causes
gradual disappearance of CR (salivation)
Operant Conditioning
E. Thorndike (1874–1949)
– Learning through consequences
– Law of Effect
Behavior that is followed by satisfying consequences will be
repeated; behavior that is followed by unpleasant
consequences will be discouraged
B.F. Skinner (1904–1990)
– Principle of Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement
Behaviors followed by pleasant stimuli are strengthened
Negative reinforcement
Behaviors that terminate a negative stimulus are
strengthened
Modeling
Learning by watching and imitating others’
behaviors
– Can occur without reinforcement
Bandura & Menlove (1968)
– Modeling reduced children’s fear of dogs
Behavior Therapy
Behavior Therapy or Behavior Modification
– Systematic Desensitization
Used to treat phobias and anxiety
Combines deep muscle relaxation and gradual exposure to
the feared condition or object
Starts with minimal anxiety producing condition and
gradually progresses to most feared
– Intermittent Reinforcement
Rewarding a behavior only occasionally more effective
than continuous schedules of reinforcement
Importance of Cognitions
Limitations of Behavior Therapy
– How we think or appraise a situation influences our feelings
and behaviors
Cognitive Therapy
– Emphasizes that how people think about themselves and
their experiences can be a major determinant of
psychopathology
– Focuses on understanding maladaptive thoughts
– Changes cognitions to change feelings and behaviors
Ellis (1913–2007)
– REBT (Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy)
Text Source Credits
Kring, Johnson, Davison, and Neale, Abnormal
Psychology, 12th edition, 2014
Powerpoint Lecture Notes Presentation –
Abnormal Psychology - John Wiley and Sons,
Inc., 2015