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Exploring Abnormality: An Overview of History and Research Methods

Investigate the concept of abnormal behavior, causes, and historical perspectives surrounding psychology. Understand the impact on individuals, families, and communities. Uncover myths and research methods in mental health studies.

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Exploring Abnormality: An Overview of History and Research Methods

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  1. Understanding Abnormality A Look at History and Research Methods

  2. Do you think any of these behaviors are ABNORMAL? • Having a “lucky” seat in an exam? • Being unable to eat, sleep, or study for days after the breakup of a relationship? • Refusing to ear solid food for days to stay thin? • Thorough hand-washing after riding a bus? • Believing government agents monitor your phone calls? • Drinking a 6-pack daily to be “sociable”?

  3. Abnormal Behavior: • Distress • Impairment • Risk to self or other people • Socially and culturally unacceptable behavior

  4. Causes of Abnormality • Three dimensions of the causes of abnormality: • Biological • Psychological • Sociocultural • Social Scientists use the term BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL to characterize the interactions among these three dimenstions.

  5. Causes of Abnormality • Biological Causes • Possible biological causes: • Genetics • Disturbances in physical functioning • Medical conditions (ex. Thyroid problem) • Brain damage • Ingestion of substances • Environmental stimuli (ex. Toxins)

  6. Causes of Abnormality • Psychological Causes • Possible psychological causes • Troubling life experiences • Interpersonal- between people (ex. Arguments) • Intrapsychic- within thoughts and feelings (ex. Irrational interpretations)

  7. Causes of Abnormality • Sociocultural Causes • Sociocultural circles of influence • Immediate circle- people with whom we interact most locally • Extended circle of relationships such as family back home or friends from high school • People in our environment with whom we interact minimally

  8. Biopsychosocial Perspective • Diathesis-Stress Model- • The proposal that people are born with a predisposition (or diathesis) that places them at risk for developing a psychological disorder if exposed to certain extremely stressful life experiences.

  9. Abnormal Psychology Throughout History • Three prominent themes in explaining psychological disorders recur throughout history: • The mystical • The scientific • The humanitarian

  10. Prehistoric Times • Abnormal Behavior as Demonic Possession • Trephining- a surgical intervention in which a hole is drilled or scraped into the human skull, exposing the dura matter to treat health problems related to intracranial diseases • Exorcism- is the practice of evicting demons or other spirits from a person or an area which they are believed to have possessed

  11. Ancient Greece and Rome • Emergence of the Scientific Model • Hippocrates • Theory of 4 Humors • Black bile- melancholic • Yellow bile- choleric • Phlegm- phlegmatic • Blood- sanguine

  12. Middle Ages & Renaissance • Explanations: Superstition, astrology, alchemy • Treatments: magical rituals, exorcism, folk medicines • Witch hunts • Asylums

  13. Europe & the US in the 1700’s • Vincenzo Chiarugi- Italian- humanitarian • Philippe Pinel- French- humanitarian • Jean-Baptiste Pussin- French- humanitarian • William Tuke- Moral treatment • Benjamin Rush- founder of Am. psychiatry • Dorothea Dix- State Hospital Movement

  14. 1800’s & 1900’s • Medical Model • Mesmerism, Hypnotism • Psychoanalytic model- psychoanalysis, psychotherapy

  15. Late 20th Century • Medications • Deinstitutionalization Movement • Managed Health Care

  16. Research Methods • The Scientific Method • Objectivity • Observation • Hypothesis Formation • Ruling out competing explanations with proper controls

  17. Research Methods • The Experimental Method • Independent variable (the possible cause) leads to the dependent variable (the outcome measured)

  18. Research Method • The Correlational Method • An association (or co-relation) between two variable

  19. Research Methods • The Survey Method • Researchers use the survey method to gather information from a sample considered representative of a particular population.

  20. Research Methods • Case Study Method • Single-Subject Design • Studies of Genetic Influence

  21. Myths of Mental Illness • Creative people are a little “crazy.” • People with mental disorders are dangerous. • Most older people are senile. • Freud was only concerned with sex. • Criminals are born “bad.” • Asthma is caused by emotional problems. • Suicidal individuals rarely talk about suicide. • People with schizophrenia have multiple personalities.

  22. Impact on the Individual • Stigma- a label that causes certain people to be regarded as different, defective, and set apart from mainstream members of society. • Distress

  23. Impact on the Family • Affected by loved ones’ distress • Also share a sense of stigma

  24. Impact on the Community & Society • Homelessness • Health Attention • Communities divided

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