Preview

Abnormal Psychology Past and Present

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
5921 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Abnormal Psychology Past and Present
Abnormal Psychology Exam 1 Review

Chapter 1 Abnormal Psychology Past and Present:
What is abnormality? Patterns of psychological abnormality usually follow the four D’s: deviance, distress, dysfunction, and danger. What is the difference between abnormal behavior and psychological disorder? Abnormal behavior is behavior that is statistically infrequent while psychological disorder is behavioral, emotional, or cognitive dysfunctions that are unexpected in their cultural context and associated with personal distress or substantial impairment in functioning. What were the two major historical perspectives regarding the cause of abnormal behavior? The Somatogenic Perspective was the view that abnormal psychological functioning had physical causes and the Psychogenic Perspective was the view that the chief causes of abnormal functioning are psychological. What did the major historical figures in the study of abnormal behavior contribute? Hippocrates believed that abnormal behavior was caused by humors (four of them): yellow bile, black bile, blood, and phlegm. He also believed hysteria was caused by a wandering womb. Aretaeus believed in a continuum between normal and abnormal behavior. Soranus advocated for the humane treatment of the mentally ill. Galen believed in the psychological basis of abnormal behavior and that hysteria was not caused by a wandering womb. John Weyer was the founder of the modern study of psychopathology and believed that the mind was just a susceptible to illness as the body. Philippe Pinel, William Tuke, Benjamin Rush, and Dorethea Dix were all part of the reform and moral treatment movement in the nineteenth century. Kraepelin was responsible for the first modern system of classifying abnormal behavior. Kraft-Ebing found that syphilis caused general paresis so he injected it into people. Jean Charcot believed that hysterical disorders are the result of the degeneration of parts of the brain. Josef Breuer thought hypnotism could cure

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Early 1800 Benjamin Franklin suggested using electricity to help cure mental issues, this was the beginning of Electricshock Therapy.…

    • 133 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    • Prepare a 700- to 1,050-word paper in which you examine the field of abnormal psychology. Address the following items: o Briefly examine the origins of abnormal psychology. Include challenges to defining and classifying normal and abnormal behavior. o Provide a brief overview of how abnormal psychology has evolved into a scientific discipline. o Briefly analyze the psychosocial, biological/medical, and sociocultural theoretical models related to the development of abnormal psychology. • Format your paper according to APA standards.…

    • 422 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Abnormality is deviating from what is considered the normal or usual behaviour as a society, normal is a statistical standard defined by what society are managing and what society considers socially acceptable or deviant or what the standard of adequate functioning meaning are they capable to cope with everyday life? There is a concept of ideal mental health this is a state of contentment we all strive to achieve. Abnormal behaviour can be understood by the biological and psychological models of abnormality these consider explanations to why people suffer with mental illness; mental illness is defined by a condition which causes serious disorder in a person’s behaviour or thinking, the…

    • 1941 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Even though abnormal psychology is a highly controversial aspect of psychology, often challenges define and classify normal and abnormal behavior. Abnormal psychology has evolved into a scientific discipline and several theories have advanced our comprehension of psychology through theoretical models. Abnormal psychology is defined as a branch of psychology that correlates with psychopathology and abnormal behavior. The word describes a broad range of illnesses, from depression to obsession-compulsion, to sexual deviance and several more. Certified counselors, clinical psychologists and psychotherapists often…

    • 386 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Abnormal psychology is a study which defines, give details about why it happens, tries to calculate violence and hazardous behavior, and tries to regulate unusual behavior. The behavior ranges from risky or unusual behavior to more unsensational and prevalent ones such as people with depression who stays in their homes. Standards that are normal and abnormal. There are five standards cultural relativism unusual behavior, discomfort level for person experiencing the problem .However the problem with the discomfort theory, the person may not be aware that they are suffering. Mental illness, maladaptiveness (does it interfere with daily activities) Abnormal psychology is an area of psychology that primarily focuses “psychopathology and abnormal behavior” abnormal depends on what is considered “normal” in that social, cultural or religious context. It is important to include variations of “subcultures” such as downtown Seattle “grunge” group which is a normal mode of behavior. Acceptable practice within a subculture as well as culture. Another subculture would be a prison population. One example of religious normal practice is the belief that “God” will heal your child not medicine…

    • 4080 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    One definition of Abnormality is deviation of Social Norms. Social norms are accepted ways of behaving within a society. They are the unwritten rules that members of a society regard as being normal and acceptable, and any deviation from them can be regarded as abnormal behaviour. Examples include ways of dressing, such as women wearing feminine clothing and men wearing masculine clothing, not appearing naked in public, saying 'please' and 'thank you', opening doors for women and elderly people etc. Social norms may, however, vary between cultures - clothing is an example of this as some African tribes wear very little clothing whereas Western cultures keep certain areas of the body covered at all times. The problem with defining abnormality as deviation from social norms is that probably the majority of behaviour that deviates from social norms is unlikely to represent mental illness. Eccentric behaviours, for example the case of John Slater (Weekes & James, 1995) who lived in a cave that was often flooded by seawater because the open space helped him think more clearly, are not necessarily abnormal to the extent that health is harmed.…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Several attempts have been presented in the aim of defining psychological abnormality. This essay will look at discussing these approaches.…

    • 779 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    SOMATIC SYMPTOM DISORDER- A disorder in which people become excessively distressed, concerned, and anxious about bodily symptoms they are experiencing.…

    • 1391 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A.having a psychological problem that is correlated with no physical symptoms B.pretending to have an illness for an external gain C.having a disorder characterized by the preoccupation with pain D.giving self-centered and melodramatic reports of symptoms Answer Key: B…

    • 4710 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Abnormal Psychology Terms

    • 9960 Words
    • 40 Pages

    "even our negative emotions help us survive. for example, aren't our suspicious often justified?" most likely someone with a ______ theoretical perspective made this statement "I knew right after we got home from the hospital that our kid had a problem," the parents said. unless the parent is using 20-20 hindsight, the child's diagnosis most likely is "i'm concerned about Ritalin use; its possible effects on children's growth, and its increasing heart-attack risk in hypertensive adults" an acquaintance worries. your best reply, based on the most recent research is "it is obvious that this case of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder arises from an early childhood fixation." which type of psychologist would most likely have made that statement? "let's try to figure out where clients fall on several key personality traits, rather than using a dichotomous classification system." someone saying this would most likely favor which approach to classifying personality disorders? "Litigaphobia" and "litigastress" "relational aggression" is a term used to describe a pattern of aggression most common among "someone's head resting on my knee,/ Warm and tender as he can be,/ Who takes good care of me,/ Oh wouldn't it be lovely?/ Lovely, lovely, lovely, lovely..." -- are the approximate lyrics of a song from the musical "My fair Lady". these lyrics most closely reflect symptoms of which personality disorder "that kid is pleasant enough, but will lie about practically anything, even things that do not seem to matter much." this behavior most closely fits which pattern of conduct disorder…

    • 9960 Words
    • 40 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Abnormal behaviour was once thought to be caused by supernatural possession; this demonological model of abnormality was especially popular in the Middle Ages. It was not until the 18th century that psychologists began to argue that this behaviour should be treated as an illness and medical techniques could be used to treat it; and so emerged the medical model of abnormality. (Gross & McIlveen, 1996)1 The medical model of abnormal psychology treats mental disorders in the same way as a physical illness. Practitioners of this model believe mental illness to have a physical cause, therefore they treat mental disorders with somatic intervention such as medication, electroconvulsive therapy or in extreme cases, psychosurgery. It is largely believed that biological events have behavioural consequences and behavioural events have biological consequences. (Wickens, 2005)2…

    • 2117 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Biological approach believes that abnormal behavior is caused by structural damage to the brain, biochemical imbalances, and genetic abnormalities. Research proves that certain characteristics of a person, such as a chemical imbalance in the brain, can be passed on from parent to child. These studies show patterns of abnormal behaviors from generation to generation. Other research provides proof that some individuals have abnormal behaviors because of defects in the brain or nervous system. The defects of the brain and nervous system can range from a lack or abundance of a certain chemical (such as serotonin) or damage done to the brain or nervous system from an illness, accident or other disorder. The brain requires many chemicals to work efficiently and effectively. When there is too much or too little of a certain neurotransmitter in the synapse that will cause certain types of psychopathology.…

    • 1996 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    In this paper we will define, and discuss the differences in what is normal and abnormal in psychology, and compare them with one another. We will also examine mental disorders and illnesses from the perspective view of clinical psychology. Finally, we will complete the paper with findings on the similarities and differences among select therapies for a couple of different psychological schools of thought for treating a variety of mental disorders.…

    • 1275 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The psychodynamic approach to abnormality assumes that unconscious desires and memories influence behaviour and may lead to abnormality. It claims that personality develops in the childhood through a number of psychosexual stages and that too much or too little pleasure at one of these can lead to fixation and abnormal behaviour. For example, between the ages of two and four, children are in the anal stage- too much focus on holding in faeces during this time can lead to an anally retentive adult personality which is obsessively neat and tidy, in some cases leading to OCD. Freud’s psychodynamic theory claims that the mind is divided into three parts. The ego, or self, needs to balance the subconscious demands of the Id (guided by the pleasure principle and seeking instant gratification) and the Superego (the sense of right and wrong- the conscience). Abnormality can be caused by an imbalance between these, e.g. an overly strong superego could lead to anxiety. The ego needs to defend itself from the stress caused, and the defence mechanisms it uses can be healthy or unhealthy. Unhealthy examples include denial, where a person refuses to accept stressful reality, or displacement, where subconscious fears are transferred to safer objects- which could explain phobias.…

    • 423 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The course of abnormal psychology is a branch that deals with the description, causes, and treatment of abnormal behavior patterns. Abnormal psychology is the thoughts or behavior that cause social, cognitive, emotional, and various other tribulations for an individual. When there is an abnormal behavior pattern disrupting one’s psychological functioning or behavior, it is due to a psychological disorder. I have realized that to be able to distinguish when a person has a psychological disorder, it is vital to be able to determine the definition of the abnormal behavior. The characteristics that classify abnormal behavior are unusualness, social deviance, faulty perception, significant personal distress, maladaptive behavior, and dangerousness, all traits that need attention and diagnosis. Abnormal behavior can bring unhappiness, conflict, or even discomfort in the individual’s everyday life not only impairing one’s lifestyle, but can affect others. However, behavior that is normal in one region may be considered abnormal in another, henceforth I must also be refined in the cultures around the world and of the patient. Each culture approaches mental disorders differently, and have different forms of normality’s, and solutions for one’s behavior. In this class I was taught how American and western cultures approach mental disorders.…

    • 639 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays