CAUSES OF ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR ETIOLOGICAL FACTORS OF ABNORMALITY

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AbnormalPsychology PSY404

LESSON 12

THE STRUCTURE OF BRAIN

Neuro-anatomists divide the brain into threesubdivisions: the hindbrain, the midbrain, and the forebrain.

Basicbodily functions areregulated by the structures of the hindbrain, which include the medulla, pons,

andcerebellum. The medullacontrols various bodily functionsinvolved in sustaining life,including heart

rate,blood pressure, and respiration. The ponsservesvarious functions in regulating stages of sleep. The

cerebellumserves as a control center in helping to coordinate physical movements.

Themidbrainalso is involved in the control of somemotor activities, especiallythose related to fighting

andsex.

Theforebrainevolvedmore recently than the hindbrain and midbrain and, therefore, forebrain is the site

of most sensory, emotional, andcognitive processes. These higher mental processes of the forebrainare

linkedwith the midbrain andhindbrain by the limbic system.

Thelimbic system is made up of a variety of different brain structuresthat are central to the regulation of

emotionand basic learning processes.

Two of the most important components of the limbic system are the thalamus and the hypothalamus.

Thethalamusis involved in receiving and integrating sensory information fromboth the sense organsand

higher brain structures. Thehypothalamuscontrols basic biological urges, such as eating, drinking,and

sexualactivity.

Most of the forebrain is composed of the twocerebralhemispheres. In general, the leftcerebral hemisphere is

involved in language and related functions, and the rightcerebral hemisphere is involved in spatial organization

andanalysis. The two cerebralhemispheres are connected by the corpuscallosum, which is involved in

coordinating the different functions thatare performed by the leftand the right hemispheres of the brain.

Thecerebralcortex is the uneven surface area of the brain that lies just underneath the skull. It is the site

of the control and integration of sophisticated memory, sensory, andmotor functions. The cerebral cortex

is divided into fourlobes.

Thefrontal lobe is involved in controlling a number of complex functions, including reasoning,planning,

emotion,speech, and movement. Theparietal lobe receivesand integrates sensoryinformation and also

plays a role in spatial reasoning.The temporal lobe processessound and smell, regulatesemotions, and is

involved in some aspects of learning, memory, andlanguage. The occipital lobe receivesand interprets

visualinformation.

Thebrain has three sections, the fore brain, the mid brainand the hind brain. It is in the forebrain that

thereare two cerebral hemispheresand the thalamus and the hypothalamus. The thalamusrelays

informationbetween CNS and the Cerebral Cortex. The hypothalamus regulates hunger, thirst,

temperature. Below the fore brain is the mid brain. The mid brain coordinates communication between

forebrainand hindbrain. The hindbrain has structures like the Pons, Medulla, ReticularActivating System

and it is connected to spinal cord. ThePons control sleep, dreamand the wake state of an individual,

Medullacontrol breathing and heartbeat.The reticular activating system screens the incoming information.

PeripheralNervous System

Theperipheralnervous system includesall connections that stemfrom the central nervoussystem

and innervate the body's muscles, sensorysystems, and organs.

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AbnormalPsychology PSY404

The peripheral nervous system itselfhas two subdivisions

1. The voluntary (intentional) somaticnervous system governsmuscular control.

2. The involuntary, autonomic nervoussystem regulates the functions of various bodyorgans,

such as the heart and stomach.The somatic nervous system controls intentional or voluntary

actions.

The autonomic nervous system is responsible for psycho-physiologicalreactions are responses thatoccur

withlittle or no conscious control.The autonomic nervous systemcan be subdivided into twobranches, the

sympatheticand parasympathetic nervoussystems. Psycho-physiologicalover-arousal andunder-arousal

bothmay contribute to abnormal behavior.For example, over-activity of the autonomic nervous system (a

poundingheart and sweaty hands)has been linked withexcessive anxiety. In contrast, chronic autonomic

under-arousalmay explain some of the indifference to social rulesand the failure to learnfrom punishment

found in antisocial personality disorder.

The autonomic nervous system consists of sympathetic andpara-sympathetic components.

The sympathetic component is active during time of intense arousal i.e.emergency whereas the

parasympathetic component is associated with rest or normal level functioning. Whenever an emergency

situation arises, the sympathetic component is activated and all arebodily indicators such as heartbeat,pulse

rate,body temperature, breathing rate is increased from the normal level to meat the emergency situation

such as (fight or flight). Aftersome time when the fight andflight situation is over, the body must return to

itsnormal level of functioning so thatall our internal organs should not be tired and wired out.

Psychosocialinfluences on brain structures and functions

Psychosocialinfluences on brain can be studied by the case of a manwho had been successful as an

accountant,husband and father. He had a brain surgery for a braintumor after his surgery, he returned to

workbut he failed in his job,separated from his familyand got involved in lengthy and un-controllable

compulsiverituals. Most of his time was consumed washing,dressing and rearranging hisroom. So he was

suffering from OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) for this case, the lesion in the brain while operating

his brain, tumor might be responsiblefor his OCD.

A boy's mother was killed in an accident shortly after hisbirth. His legal fathermarried another woman

when the boy was three yearsold. The boy's stepmother began a course of physical andpsychological

abusethat will make you shiver. For years, the boy was locked in a closet. He was deprived of food and

water.His brother and sisterwould sneak food to him. He was even beaten by a broomstick. This extreme

abuseretarded the child's intellectual, emotionaland social growth.

A number of similar cases havebeen reported. Children after getting out of these constraints conditionsare

admitted in the psychiatric hospital resume theirnormal growth.

DavidSpiegel a psychiatrist at Stanford University in 1986, study 86 women with advance breastcancer.

Thisbreast cancer was expected to kill them within twoyear's time. The prognosiswas very poor. These

womenwere provided grouppsychotherapy to relieve their anxiety, depression and pain. Allpatient had

routinemedical care for theircancer, in addition 50 patient of the 86 met with their therapist for

psychotherapyonce a week in small groups.Dr. Spiegel's therapy didmagic, the group receiving therapy

livedtwice as long on average as the control group. These findings do not say thatpsychosocial

interventionscure advanced cancer, but they certainly point to one thingthat psychological factors affect

physicalprocesses involved in life threatening diseases. There is a good evidencethat reducing stressand

giving patient's better cooping procedures and a sense of control seems to boost immune system

functioning.

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AbnormalPsychology PSY404

William Greenough and his colleagues in 1990 studied that the nervous system of the ratsraised in enriched

highlystimulated environment developed differently from those ratsthat were couch potatoes.The active

ratshad many more connectionsbetween nerve cells in the Cerebellum and grew manymore dendrites.

Through this experiment, the scientists learnthat our nervous system is constantly changing as a result of

learning and experience even in oldage and some of thesechanges arepermanent.

The biomedical model takes in to account the concept of disease, the tiesbetween brain and

psychopathology, the link between biologicaland environmentalstress.

Psychoanalytic Model

This model studies psychopathology withreference to unconscious, childhoodexperiences andintra-

psychicconflict.

Psychoanalysiswas pioneered by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). He learned the art of Hypnosis in France. He

experimented with somewhat differentprocedures of Hypnosis. He used Hypnosis in an innovative way.

He encouraged his patients to talk freely about theirproblems, conflicts and fears.He discovered the

unconsciousmind and its influence in psychopathology by using the techniques of Free Association, Dream

Analysisand Freudian Slips.

Structure of the mind: According to Freud the mindconsists of Id which operates on pleasure principle, it

is childish and immature. Libido provides energy to Id, Ego andSuperego. Ego operates on Reality

Principle and it is the master control.It works on logic and reason .The Superego it operates on the moral

principleand it is the conscience of the Psyche.The Ego mediates andresolves conflict between Id and

Superego.

DefenseMechanism or CopingStyles

TheEgo battles with Id andSuperego to resolve conflicts, at times the resulting anxiety is so overwhelming

that the Ego has to adoptunconscious protective processescalled Ego DefenseMechanisms or Coping

Styles.They have followingcharacteristics in common

a. Operate at unconscious level.

b. Distort reality.

c. Protect the Ego.

d. All normal and abnormal individuals both use these in their daily life.

Someimportant ego defensemechanisms arefollowing

1-Denial 2- Displacement, 3- Projection, 4- Reactionformation, 5- Repression, 6-Rationalization, 7-

Sublimation.

Psychosexual Theory of Development

Freud proposed a theory of development. This is known as the psychosexual theory of development. The

mainemphasis in this theory is on the physical and psychological development.

Psychosexualtheory of development

1. Oral stage -birth to18 months

2. Anal stage-18 months to 3 years

3. Phallic stage -3 to 6 years

4. Latency stage

5. Genital stage-6 to 12 years

Thestages of development represent patterns of gratifying our basic the needs, those needs whichare not

gratifiedappear as fixations or psychopathologies at later adulthood

Oralstage fixations include fingernailbiting, chewingpencils.

Freud is the first personality theorist to discuss the developmental perspective in the study of abnormal

behavior.

Psychoanalytic- Therapy It focuses on unconscious processes, conflicts and pastexperiences.

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AbnormalPsychology PSY404

LESSON 13

CAUSES OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

Throughouthistory, the search forexplanations of the causes of abnormal behavior dates to ancienttimes,

the ancient records attribute abnormal behavior to the disfavor of the gods or the mischief of demons.

Modelsfor Studying Psychopathology

Biomedical Model

PsychoanalyticalModel

Humanistic model

Behavioral model

CognitiveModel

TheseModels try to explain the cause of individual AbnormalBehavior. Each model representsits own

individualinterpretation of psychopathology andrecommends its individual treatment procedures. So allthe

modelstry to answer the question that

· Why it is that someone is acting so strange?

· What is the cause of abnormal behavior?

Biological model and Psychoanalytic Model

Thebiological model seems to answer this question with reference to the concepts of genetics and

neuroscience.The psychoanalytic model focuses on unconscious, childhood andpsychosexual

development.

Thesemodels have been fullycovered in lecture no 11 and12

HumanisticModel

Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)

He presented a need theory, in form of a hierarchy. In order to understand his theory,imagine a triangle

whichhas a broad base and a narrow top. The basic survival needs are at the base of the triangle where as

the need of self esteem, loveand self actualization canonly be satisfied when needs at the lower level have

beensatisfied.

Hierarchy of Needs

1. Self Actualization.

2. Self Esteem

3. Love andbelongingness

4. Safety

5. Physiological

Empathyand Unconditional Positive Regardare the central concepts of Roger's approach.

Empathyrefers to understand the client's problemfrom client'sperspective.

Example

Parentsand teachers try hard to understand the problems of theirchildren and students by using their

children's and student's frame of reference.

Unconditionalpositive regard is to give respect and dignity to everyindividual because he is a human

being not because of some reasonthat he is rich, educated, handsomeetc

Example

Thesweeper, who cleans yourhome daily, should getunconditional positive regardfrom you simply

because he is a human being and notbecause that he works at yourhome.

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AbnormalPsychology PSY404

BehavioralModel

This model emphasizes the overt (observable)behavior of the person and the environmental influences on

it.

Pavlov and Classical Conditioning

It is a type of learning, where a neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditional stimulus,acquires the status

of conditioned stimulus andleads to the desiredresponse.

· Unconditionedstimulus (UCS) is a naturally occurring stimulus that leads to a response.

Unconditionedmeans "unlearned" or "naturallyoccurring."

· Unconditionedresponse (UCR) is a response to a naturally occurring or unconditioned stimulus.

Example:

A dangerous situation produces fear in a person without any prior learning or conditioning .The dangerous

situation is the unconditioned stimulus (UCS)and the fear reaction is the unconditioned response (UCR)

Theyoccurs naturally. A neutral stimulusdoes not produce a responsebut when neutral stimulus is

repeatedly paired with dangerous situation it becomes conditioned stimulus(CS) capable of producing the

fearresponse.

Conditionedstimulus (CS): stimulus thatbecomes able to produce a learnedresponse by being paired with

the original unconditionedstimulus.

Conditionedmeans "learned."

A neutral stimulus can become a conditioned stimulus when paired with an unconditioned

stimulus.--

Conditioned

response

(CR)

learned

response

conditioned

stimulus.

UCR

UCS

Startle

LoudNoise

(Fear)

UCR

UCS

Startle

WHITE RAT

LoudNoise

(Fear)

Startle

WHITE RAT

(Fear)

Watsonworked on an 11 month old,little Albert to acquire the phobia of white furyobjects. Albert was

not afraid of white rat and he use to play with white rat. Theloud noise was UCSwhich lead to UCR of

being startle (fear), now loudnoise was paired withwhite rat, on repeatedtrials the pairing of UCS(loud

noise)with CS( white rat) lead to new type of learning called conditioning . Now CS (white rat) led to CR

(startle or fear)

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AbnormalPsychology PSY404

Example

Whensome mothers in our culture, create phobia of darkness in children, by saying that `a jinn willcome

outfrom the darkness and eat them.'

Operant Conditioning

It was pioneered by B.F. Skinner. Operant Conditioning is concerned with the consequences of behavior

i.e. the probability whether a response willincrease or decrease with reinforcement.

A result card with goodgrades is rewarded, so the probability of this response of working hard for a result

cardwith good grades willincrease.

· Operant conditioning is the learning of behavior through the effects of pleasant andunpleasant

consequences to responses.

· Thorndike's Law of Effect - lawstating that if a response is followed by a pleasurable

consequence, it will tend to be repeated,and if followed by an unpleasantconsequence, it willtend

not to be repeated.

· Behaviorist wants to study onlyobservable, measurablebehavior.

· Reinforcement- any event or stimulus that when following a response, increases the probability

that the response will occuragain.

· Positivereinforcement - the reinforcement of a response by the addition or experiencing of a

pleasurablestimulus.

· Negative reinforcement - the reinforcement of a response by the removal, escapefrom, or

avoidance of an unpleasant stimulus.

· Punishment - any event or object that, when following a response, makes thatresponse less likely

to happen again.

Observational Learning or Modeling

Stanford university professor, Albert Bandura, pioneered the analysis of observational learning or modeling

which is process of learning behavior by observing others. It is learning throughimitation.

Example

Aggressivebehavior can be learned by observing others. Adult models punchedand abused "a bobodoll"

whilechildren watched and were later permitted to play with the samedoll and children imitated aggressive

behaviors as observed.

Social learning theory by Bandura purposes,that behavior is the product of both external stimulusevents

andinternal cognitiveprocess.

Cultural,Social and InterpersonalFactors

In various cultures around the world, people suffer from fear or phobiareactions. The cultural factors

influence the form and contents of psychopathology. Many disorders differ within a single culture and

within the same country. Fear andphobias are universal occurring across all cultures. Forexample: Children

living in war zones areas of the world are constantly under the fear of potentially life threatening events.

Social Effect

A large number of research studieshave shown that greater the number of frequency of socialrelationships,

the longer the individual is likely to live. A study was done on healthy volunteers. The authors measured the

participation of subjects in social relationships andits relation with otherfactors such as poor sleepquality

andincreased likely hood to catch cold. The surprisingresults were that greater the number of social types

lesser the chance of catching the cold. This shows social interpersonal factors influence psychological and

neurobiological(immune system). Schizophreniaand major depression occur in all cultures but they look

differentfrom one culture to another because, the individual symptoms are strongly influenced by social

and interpersonal context. Depression in the western culture is exhibited with a feeling of guilt and

inadequacy,whereas in developing countriesdepression is reflected in physicalsymptoms such as fatigue,

illness,aches and pains in differentparts of the body.

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AbnormalPsychology PSY404

SocialStigma

Psychologicaldisorders continue to carry stigma in our society. We in a developingsociety stillperceive

schizophrenia,depression, cancer as disorders about which you have to be hush up or to be secretive about

it.What will people think about it? How `I' and`my family' will livewith this stigma?

InterpersonalPsychotherapy (IPT)

This therapy focuses on interpersonal relationships and interpersonal experiences. In IPT, the patient and

the therapist identify life stressesthat lead to psychological disorder and interpersonal problems in the

individual.The important interpersonal issuesrelate with marital conflict, acquiring a new job, that is job

change or change in relationships. This is a brief therapy, like cognitive behavioral therapy and ten to fifteen

sessionsare effective for problemssuch as depression.

Gender roles have strong effect on psychopathology. The likely hood of insectphobia or smallanimal

phobia is more prevalent to be among females as compare to 90% of the people with this phobia. Bulimia

Nervosa an eating disorder occurs almostentirely in young females. Almostall cultures emphasize on girls

to lean and thin. So girlsare under the pressure to eatless and appear lean.EmotionsCharlesDarwin some

134years ago in 1872, suggestedthat fear emotion is programmed in all animal andhumans i.e. if youare

caught in a road accident, or you areswimming in a river to saveyour life, well youare going throughfight

or flight response where you mobilize all your energy to escape the danger (flight) or to withstands it (fight).

Walter Cannon (1929) gave the concept of physiology of fear. In fear, your cardiovascularsystem is

activated,blood vessels constrict, excess of blood is redirected to musclesand always available to vital

organs.You have seen people in emergency to become whitewith fear, trembling with fear, hairs standings

on their ends, breathing becomesfaster, heartbeat increases,increased amount of glucose is releasedinto

the blood stream, pupils of eyes dilate, the mouth becomes dry, sweatbreaks out on the forehead.These are

all indicators or physiological responses of an individual going through an emotional state.The anxiety

disordersand mood disorders arecalled emotionaldisorders.

RichardLazarus (1968, 1991) whoproposed that change in an individual's environment, is perceived as

potential change in the person. The type of appraisal or perception you makedetermines the emotion

youare experiencing.

Forexample: If you see somebodyholding a gun in a dark alley, you willperceive this situation as dangerous

andexperience fear. But if youperceive that the person who is standing is insane and is holding a toy gun,

youwill not be afraid andscared, so cognition andemotion interact and form the basis of emotion of fear.

Cognitivemodel

Cognitive model is concerned with humancognition that how humanbeings perceive recognize, attend,

reasonand judge. This model includes:

1. Rational emotive behavior therapy. (AlbertEllis) 1962.

2. Cognitive theory of depression(Aaron Beck - 1967).

1. Rational emotive behavior therapy. (Albert Ellis)1962.

According to Albert Ellis, maladaptivebehavior results when people operate on misguided andinaccurate

assumptions.Ellis catalogued 11 irrationalbelieves responsible formaladaptive behavior. TheABC of

rational emotive behavior therapy is where:

A Activating event,

B Belief System and C

Emotional behavioral consequences.

Activating event A can cause unwanted emotionaland behavioral

consequences when filter through beliefsthat are irrational.

2. Cognitive Theory of Depression.

ForBeck, depressed people possess a negative cognitivetriad.

Becksays depressed individual see themselves as defeated, deprived anddiseased and their world as full of

road blocks and their futurewithout hope.

In today's world psychologistsstudy abnormal behavior notwith reference to one single model rather they

adopt the integrative approach which respond to all aspects of abnormal behavior.

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AbnormalPsychology PSY404

LESSON 14

CAUSES OF ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR

ETIOLOGICALFACTORS OF ABNORMALITY

We have talked about the different models of Psychology; each model representsits own unique

interpretation of the etiology and treatment of abnormal behavior. After studying each model we extracted

(located)some important factorsunderlying abnormality. From the study of biomedical model we have

located the biological factors of abnormality similarly, after going through the Psychoanalytic model,

Humanistic Model, Behavioral model and Cognitive model we extracted the psychologicalfactors,

emotionaland social factors. Allthese factors, they combine together in Bio-Psycho-Social approach or

multidimensional integrative approach. The biologicalfactors focus on genetics, the interaction of genes

andenvironment. This model also focuses on neuron, brain and spinal cord.

1-Biological Factors

a- Genes and its interaction withenvironment

· b-Thestudy of neuro-anatomy and neurophysiology is the study neuroscience. The Neuron

Billions of tiny nervecells--neurons--form the basic building blocks of the brain. Each neuron

hasfour major anatomic components: the soma, or cell body, the dendrites, the axon, and the axon

terminal.

· Thedendritesbranchout from the soma; they serve the primary function of receiving messages from

othercells. The axonis the trunk of the neuron. Messages are transmitted down the axon toward

othercells with which a given neuron communicates.

· Scientistshave found that disruptions in the functioning of various neurotransmittersare present

amongsome people with mentaldisorders.

· An oversupply of certain neurotransmitters is found in some mental disorders, an undersupply in

othercases, and disturbances in reuptake in other psychologicalproblems. Abnormalities in the

dopamine system in the brain may be involved in schizophrenia.

· Otherevidence links the availability of various neurotransmitters withdepression, hyperactivity,

posttraumaticstress disorder, and manyother psychologicalproblems.

c- Major BrainStructures

· Neuro-anatomists divide the brain into threesubdivisions: the hindbrain, the midbrain, and the

forebrain.

· Basicbodily functions areregulated by the structures of the hindbrain, which include the medulla,

pons,and cerebellum.

· Themedullacontrols various bodily functionsinvolved in sustaining life,including heart rate,

bloodpressure, and respiration.

· Theponsservesvarious functions in regulating stages of sleep.

· Thecerebellumserves as a control center in helping to coordinate physical movements.

· Themidbrainalso is involved in the control of somemotor activities, especiallythose related to

fightingand sex.

· Theforebrainevolved more recently than the hindbrain and midbrain and, therefore, is the site of

mostsensory, emotional, and cognitiveprocesses. These higher mentalprocesses of the forebrain

arelinked with the midbrain andhindbrain by the limbic system.

· Thelimbic system is made up of a variety of different brain structuresthat are central to the

regulation of emotion and basic learning processes.

· d- Spinal cord is along bundle of neuronsthat carries messages to andfrom the body to the brain

that is responsible for a very fast,life saving reflexes.

AbnormalPsychology PSY404

2-PSYCHOLOGICALFACTORS

· HumanNature and Temperament

· The writings of British psychiatrist John Bowlby greatly influenced psychologists'views about the

humanneed to form closerelationships. The heart of Bowlby's theory was the observation that

childrenform attachments early in life--special and selectivebonds with theircaregivers.

· Bowlbybased his approach, known as attachmenttheory, on findings based on the study of animal

behavior.

· Research on the effects of insecureor anxiousattachments--uncertain parent child relationships are a

product of inconsistent and unresponsive parenting during the first year of life--is of particular

relevance to the development of abnormal behavior.

· The development of attachments, or moregenerally of affiliationwithother members of the same

species, is one of the two broad categories of social behaviors studied by psychologists.

· One of the most important areas of research on individual differences in personality is the study of

temperament, characteristicstyles of relating to the world.

· Individualdifferences in temperament may play a role in a number of psychologicaldisorders,

especially personality disorders and childbehavior problems.

· Emotions,internal feeling states, are essential to human experience and to ourunderstanding of

mentaldisorders.

Learning and Cognition

Emotions,motivations, and temperamentalstyles can be modified, at least to some degree, by learning.

· Cognitivetheories like Albert Ellis's REBT and Beck's Depressiontheory suggests that distorted

perceptions of reality cause people to becomedepressed.

· A successful treatment based on this theoryencourages depressed people to be more scientific and

realistic in evaluating conclusions aboutthemselves.

The Sense of Self

Maslow'stheory of needs in whichself actualization is given importance.Self-esteem, valuingone's

abilities, is another important and muchdiscussed aspect of oursense of self. Evidence indicatesthat

highself-esteem is more of a product of success; similarly low self-esteemmay result from

psychologicalproblems.

LifeSpan Developments:

Lifespan developmental psychopathologists want to understand how differentperiods of development

influence, how stress and otherfactors have an impact on mental disorders. Eric Erickson (1982)

suggestedthat we go through eight major crisesduring our life andeach crisis is influenced by

biological maturation, social factors and the developmental stages we are passingthrough. Erickson

believe,"we grow and changeeven beyond 65." Duringolder adulthood, we lookback and viewour

lives as rewarding or as disappointing. Erickson's developmental theory is more comprehensiveand

advanced as compared to SigmundFreud's.

Theory

Developmental Stages

Period of Growth

Freud'sPsychosexual theory

Five

1st year to 12 years

Erick Erickson's developmental

Eight

1st year to 65 years and beyond

theory

Equifinality:

Equifinality is a construct which we frequentlyuse in developmental psychopathology to indicate that we

mustconsider a number of paths to a given disorder e.g. if we like to studyschizophrenia, we can study it its

delusionalsymptoms, or its difficulty in focusing attention or the state of delirium of the schizophrenics.

Researchersare exploring the differentpathways to a single disorder.

· Development, or how people grow and change, is of basic importance to normal and abnormal

psychology.

· A key developmental concept is thatpsychological growth can be characterized by various

developmentalstages--periods of time marked by age and/orsocial tasks during whichchildren

or adults face common socialand emotionalchallenges.

AbnormalPsychology PSY404

Twoprominent theories thatdivided development into stagesare Freud's theory of psychosexual

development and Erickson's theory of psychosocialdevelopment.

Relationships and Psychopathology

· Muchevidence links abnormal behaviorwith distressed or conflictedrelationships, still it often is

impossible to determine if troubled relationships actually cause abnormal behavior.

· Example when an individual enjoys a large number of social relationships

· Thefindings of this large body of research indicate that marital status(separation, divorce, second

marriage)and psychological problemsclearly are correlated.

Gender and Gender Roles

· Genderand genderroles, expectationsregarding the appropriate behavior of males or females,

candramatically affect social relationships and social interaction.

· Gender roles may influence the development, expression, or consequences of psychopathology.--

Prejudice and Poverty

· An increased risk for psychologicaldisorders is associated with prejudice and poverty, the

conditions of poverty effect a large number of people in many ways.

SocietalValues

· Broad social values also may influence the nature and development of abnormal behavior.

· The broad practices, beliefs, andvalues of our society play a role in defining abnormal behaviorand

in shaping the scientific enterprise thatattempts to uncover the roots of psychopathology.

SYSTEMTHEORY

· Systemstheory is an approach to integrating evidence on different contributions to abnormal

behavior.

· Youcan think of systems theory as similar to the bio-psychosocial model or the multidimensional

integrative approach but systems theoryalso embraces several keyconcepts that deservesome

elaboration.

Holism

· A central principle of systemstheory is holism, the idea that the whole is more than the sum of its

parts. A human being is more than the sum of a nervous system, an organ system, a circulatory

system,and so on.

· We can appreciate the principle of holism if we contrast it with its scientific counterpoint,

reductionism.

· Reductionism attempts to understand problems by focusing on smaller and smaller units, viewing

the smallest possible unit as the true or ultimate cause.

· One approach is not right, while the others are wrong. Thelenses are just different,and each has

valuefor differentpurposes.

· Causality Thecause of any one case of abnormal behavior occasionally can be located in one area

of biological, psychological, or socialfunctioning.

· Morecommonly, however, understanding the causes of psychological problems involves a

multitude of causal influences, not in one single area of biological or psychological or social.

· Thecause of any one case of abnormal behavior occasionally can be located in one area of

biological, psychological, or socialfunctioning.

Developmental Psychopathology

· Developmental psychopathology is a new approach to abnormal psychologythat emphasizes the

importance of developmental norms which include age-graded averages--to determine what constitutes

abnormal behavior.

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