ABNORMAL

PSYCHOLOGY
Contents
➢ Definition
➢ Normality & Abnormality
➢ History
➢ Models

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Abnormal
Psychology
It is the branch of psychology devoted to the study, assessment, treatment,
and prevention of maladaptive behavior & mental disorders

Psychopathology:
the scientific study of mental disorders, including
their theoretical underpinnings, etiology,
progression, symptomatology, diagnosis, and
treatment.
This broad discipline draws on research from
numerous areas, such as psychology,
biochemistry, pharmacology, psychiatry,
neurology, and endocrinology.

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 ➢ Diagnosis involves distinguishing one illness from another.

➢ A Prognosis is a forecast about the probable course of an illness.

➢ Etiology refers to the apparent

causation and developmental
history of an illness.

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 The Four Ds of Abnormality
Dysfunction, Distress, Deviance, And Dangerousness

➢ Behaviors, thoughts, and feelings are dysfunctional when they interfere with the person’s ability to
function in daily life, to hold a job, or to form close relationships.
The more dysfunctional behaviors and feelings are, the more likely they are to be considered
abnormal by mental health professionals. For example, thinking that is out of touch with reality (such as
believing you are evil and should be punished) makes it difficult to function in everyday life and so is
considered dysfunctional.
➢ Behaviors and feelings that cause distress to the individual or to others around him or her are also
likely to be considered abnormal. Many of the problems we discuss in this book cause individuals
tremendous emotional and even physical pain; in other cases, the person diagnosed with a disorder is
not in distress but causes others distress—for example, through chronic lying, stealing, or violence.
➢ Highly deviant behaviors, such as hearing voices when no one else is around, lead to judgments of
abnormality. What is deviant is influenced by cultural norms, of course.
➢ Finally, some behaviors and feelings, such as suicidal gestures, are of potential harm to the individual,
whereas other behaviors and feelings, such as excessive aggression, could potentially harm others.
Such dangerous behaviors and feelings are often seen as abnormal.
➢ The four Ds together make up mental health professionals’ definition of behaviors or feelings as
abnormal or maladaptive.
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Maher and Maher (1994) have pointed out that the best known of the earlier
paradigms for explaining personality or temperament is the doctrine of the four
humors, associated with the name of Hippocrates and later with the Roman
physician, Galen.
The four elements of the material world were thought to be earth, air, fire, and water,
which had attributes of heat, cold, moistness, and dryness.

These elements combined to form the four essential fluids of the body—blood
(sanguis), phlegm, bile (choler), and black bile (melancholer). The fluids combined in
different proportions within different individuals, and a person’s temperament was
determined by which of the humors was dominant.

From this view came one of the earliest and longest-lasting typologies of human
behavior: the sanguine, the phlegmatic, the choleric, and the melancholic. Each of
these “types” brought with it a set of personality attributes. For example, the person
of sanguine temperament was optimistic, cheerful, and unafraid.
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Hippocrates’ emphasis on the natural causes of diseases, clinical observation, and brain
pathology as the root of mental disorders was truly revolutionary.

Like his contemporaries, however, Hippocrates had little knowledge of physiology. He

believed that hysteria (the appearance of physical illness in the absence of organic
pathology) was restricted to women and was caused by the uterus wandering to various
parts of the body, pining for children.
For this “disease,” Hippocrates recommended marriage as the best remedy.

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C l a s s i f i c a t i o n
o f
M e n t a l
D i s o r d e r s
In 1896, Emil Kraepelin (1855–1926), a German psychiatrist, was
responsible for creating the first truly comprehensive
classification system of psychological disorders.

Strongly motivated by a belief that there was a physical basis to

psychological
problems, he gave the process of psychological diagnosis and
classification the flavor of medical diagnosis.

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Epidemiology is the study of the distribution of diseases, disorders, or health-related behaviors in
a given population.

Prevalence refers to the number of active cases in a population during any given period of time.
Prevalence figures are typically expressed as percentages (i.e., the percentage of the population
that has the disorder).

Incidence refers to the number of new cases that occur over a given period of time (typically 1
year). Incidence figures tend to be lower than prevalence figures because they exclude
preexisting cases.

Comorbidity is the term used to describe the presence of two or more disorders in the same
person. Comorbidity is especially high in people who have severe forms
of mental disorders.

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Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)

DSM- 5 published in 2013 DSM 5 TR (Text Revision)

published in 2022

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Standards for deviance also vary with time.

From 1952 through, 1973, homosexuality was classified as an illness. By day’s end
on December 10,1973 it was not. The American Psychiatric Association had
dropped homosexuality as a disorder because more and more of its members no
longer viewed it as a psychological problem. (Later research has revealed that the
stigma and stresses associated with being homosexual do, however, increase the
risk of mental health problems

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Models

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Biological Model

The disorders first recognized as having biological or organic components were those
associated with gross destruction of brain tissue.
These disorders are neurological diseases— that is, they result from the disruption of brain
functioning by physical or biochemical means and often involve psychological
or behavioral aberrations. For example, damage to certain areas in the brain can cause
memory loss, and damage to the left hemisphere that occurs during a stroke can cause
depression.

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four categories of biological factors that seem particularly relevant to the
development of maladaptive behavior:

(1) neurotransmitter and hormonal abnormalities in the brain or other parts of the
central nervous system,
(2) genetic vulnerabilities,
(3) temperament, and
(4) brain dysfunction and neural plasticity.

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Biochemical Imbalances

Abnormalities in neurotransmitter systems in the

brain can lead to mental disorders without
causing damage to the brain. Moreover, the
bizarre content of delusions and other abnormal
mental states like hallucinations can never be
caused simply and directly by
brain damage

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Studies showed that antipsychotic drugs have beneficial effects on
people with schizophrenia, that lithium is useful in controlling affective disorders, and
that tricyclics and monoamine oxidase inhibitors alleviate symptoms of severely
depressed patients.

Biochemical studies indicate that these drugs seem to work by blocking or facilitating
neurotransmitter activity at receptor sites. Most current psychiatric drugs seem to affect
one of five different transmitters: acetylcholine, dopamine, gamma aminobutyric acid
(GABA), norepinephrine, and serotonin.

Certain chemical imbalances appear to be disorder specific. Insufficient dopamine, for

example, is a possible cause of Parkinson’s disease.

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 PSYCHOANALYTIC PERSPECTIVE

Sigmund Freud founded the

psychoanalytic school, which
emphasized the role of unconscious
motives and thoughts and their
dynamic interrelationships in the
determination of both normal and
abnormal behavior.

Freud believed that the interplay of

id, ego, and superego is of crucial
significance in determining behavior.
Often inner mental conflicts arise
because the three subsystems are
striving for different goals.
If unresolved, these intrapsychic
conflicts lead to mental disorder

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PRESE NTATI ON T ITL E 25
Freud believed that in many instances, the ego can cope with elevated anxiety through rational
measures. However, Freud suggested that when our anxiety exists only in our unconscious and
we are not aware of it, it cannot be dealt with through rational measures.

In these cases the ego resorts to irrational protective measures that are referred to
as ego-defense mechanisms.

These defense mechanisms, Freud proposed, reduce anxiety by helping a person push painful
ideas out of consciousness (such as when we “forget” a dental appointment) rather than by
dealing directly with the problem. These mechanisms result in a distorted view of reality,
although some are clearly more adaptive than others.

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 BEHAVIORAL PERSPECTIVE

▪ Behavioral psychologists believed that the study of subjective experience (e.g., free
association and dream analysis) did not provide acceptable scientific data
because such observations were not open to verification by other investigators.
▪ In their view, only the study of directly observable behavior and of the stimuli and
reinforcing conditions that control it could serve as a basis for understanding
human behavior, normal and abnormal.
▪ This perspective was developed through laboratory research rather than clinical
practice with patients; however, its implications for explaining and treating
maladaptive behavior soon became evident.
▪ Behaviorists focus on the effects of environmental conditions (stimuli) on the
acquisition, modification, and possible elimination of various types of response
patterns, both adaptive and maladaptive.

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▪ CLASSICAL CONDITIONING A specific stimulus may come to elicit a specific
response through the process of classical conditioning.
▪ Classical conditioning is important in abnormal psychology because many
physiological and emotional responses can be conditioned, including those related
to fear, anxiety, or sexual arousal and those stimulated by drugs of abuse.
▪ Thus, for example, one can learn a fear of the dark if fear-producing stimuli (such as
frightening dreams or fantasies) occur regularly in the dark, or one can acquire a fear
of snakes if bitten by a snake (Mineka & Sutton, 2006; Mineka & Zinbarg, 2006)

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OPERANT CONDITIONING In operant (or
instrumental) conditioning, an individual learns how
to achieve a desired goal. The goal in question may be
to obtain something that is rewarding or to escape
from something that is unpleasant.

A special problem arises in situations in which a

subject has been conditioned to anticipate an aversive
event and so consistently avoids those situations. For
example, a boy who has nearly drowned in a
swimming pool may develop a fear of water and a
conditioned avoidance response in which he
consistently avoids all large bodies of water.

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OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING Human and nonhuman primates are also capable of
observational learning—that is, learning through observation alone, without directly
experiencing an unconditioned stimulus (for classical conditioning) or a reinforcement
(for instrumental conditioning).
For instance, children can acquire new fears by simply observing a parent or peer
behaving fearfully with some object or situation that the child did not initially fear. In
this case, they experience the fear of the parent or peer vicariously, and that fear
becomes attached to the formerly neutral object
The possibilities for observational conditioning of both classical and instrumental
responses greatly expand our opportunities for learning both adaptive and
maladaptive behavior

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 COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE

▪ Cognitive psychology involves the study of basic information-processing mechanisms

such as attention and memory, as well as higher mental processes such as thinking,
planning, and decision making.
▪ Today the cognitive or cognitive-behavioral perspective on abnormal behavior
generally focuses on how thoughts and information processing can become distorted
and lead to maladaptive emotions and behavior.
▪ One central construct or this perspective is the concept of a schema, which was
adapted from cognitive psychology by Aaron Beck

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▪ SCHEMAS AND COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS Our schemas about the world around us
and about ourselves (self-schemas) are our guides.
▪ We all have schemas about other people (for example, expectations that they are lazy
or very career oriented). We also have schemas about social roles (for example,
expectations about what the appropriate behaviors for a widow are) and about
events (for example, what sequences of events are appropriate for a particular
situation such as someone coping with a loss;
▪ Our self-schemas include our views on who we are, what we might become, and what
is important to us.

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▪ According to Beck, different forms of
psychopathology are characterized by
different maladaptive schemas that
have developed as a function of
adverse early learning experiences.
▪ These maladaptive schemas lead to the
distortions in thinking that are
characteristic of certain disorders such
as anxiety, depression, and personality
disorders.
▪ In addition to studying the nature of
dysfunctional schemas associated with
different forms of psychopathology,
researchers have also studied several
different patterns of distorted
information processing exhibited by
people with various forms of
psychopathology.

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ATTRIBUTIONS, ATTRIBUTIONAL STYLE,
AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
▪ Attribution theory has also contributed significantly to the cognitive-behavioral
approach (Fiske & Taylor, 1991; Gotlib & Abramson, 1999).
▪ Attribution is simply the process of assigning causes to things that happen. We may
attribute behavior to external events such as rewards or punishments

▪ Attribution theorists have been interested in whether different forms of

psychopathology are associated with distinctive and dysfunctional attributional
styles.

▪ Attributional style is a characteristic way in which an individual tends to assign

causes to bad events or good events.
▪ For example, people with depression tend to attribute bad events to internal, stable,
and global causes ; “I failed the test because I’m stupid” as opposed to “I failed the
test because the teacher was in a bad mood and graded it unfairly”
▪ However inaccurate our attributions may be, they become important parts of our
view of the world and can have significant effects on our emotional well-being.
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 HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE
▪ Humanistic psychologists emphasize that values and the process of choice are key in guiding
our behavior and achieving meaningful and fulfilling lives.
▪ Each of us must develop values and a sense of our own identity based on our own experiences
rather than blindly accepting the values of others; otherwise, we deny our own experiences
and lose touch with our own feelings.
▪ Only in this way can we become self-actualizing, meaning that we are achieving our full
potential.
▪ According to this view, psychopathology is essentially the blocking or distortion of personal
growth and the natural tendency toward physical and mental health.

▪ According to Rogers (1961), distressing life events (or the perception of events as distressing)
distort a person’s perception of his or her subsequent experiences. These distressing life
events and resulting distortions are thought to result in an inability to trust experiences. Such
lack of trust causes an individual to view him- or herself in a distorted way, thereby causing
abnormal behaviour. These distorted perceptions impact future choices and cause behaviours
that are detrimental to personal development, further entrench the distorted views of self and
experience, and perpetuate dysfunctional behaviour
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 SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE

It examine the types of social factors that make people vulnerable to disorder or that
may precipitate disorder.
Social factors are environmental influences—often unpredictable and uncontrollable
negative events—that can negatively affect a person psychologically, making him or
her less resourceful in coping with events.
It focus on several different types of social factors that can each have important
detrimental effects on a child’s socioemotional development:
(1) early deprivation or trauma,
(2) problems in parenting style,
(3) marital discord and divorce,
(4) low socioeconomic status and unemployment,
(5) maladaptive peer relationships, and
(6) prejudice and discrimination

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 SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

▪ The cultural perspective is concerned with the impact of culture on the definition
and manifestation of mental disorders
▪ Although many serious mental disorders are fairly universal, the form that some
disorders take and their prevalence vary widely among different cultures.
▪ The biopsychosocial approach is promising, but in many ways it is merely a
descriptive acknowledgment of the complex interactions among biological,
psychological, and sociocultural risk factors rather than a clearly articulated theory
of how they interact.

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Many contemporary theorists, however, take a
biopsychosocial approach, recognizing that the
development of psychological symptoms often results
from a combination of biological, psychological, and
sociocultural factors.
These factors are often referred to as risk factors,
because they increase the risk of psychological
problems.
Risk factors can be biological, such as a genetic
predisposition. They may also be psychological, such
as difficulty remaining calm in stressful situations. Or
they may be sociocultural, such as growing up with
the stress of discrimination based on ethnicity or race.

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