...Model of Abnormality In psychology, there are numerous models that have been created to treat and explain abnormalities. These models include biological, psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, humanistic, existential, family-social, and multicultural. Within each of these models, there are specific key techniques, goals and a different role played by a therapist. If I were to create my own model of abnormality, it could be considered a biopsychosocial theory, as it contains parts from each model. Seeing as these abnormalities are focused on humans, my model would have a biological foundation. I believe a good portion of abnormal behavior is caused by brain chemistry and genetics. It is no secret that psychotropic medications have been a great advancement and advantage in the treatment of abnormal behavior. It is also scientifically proven to be a primary cause and there has been strong scientific research to back up the claim. Although effective for many sufferers, a disadvantage of this portion of my model is that not all biological theories and treatments work for everyone. Secondly within my model is a portion of the behavioral model. I believe everyday of our lives we react and respond to our environment and can always change by learning. It is my belief that individuals can be conditioned, whether through operant, model or classical conditioning, to correct and/or desensitize themselves and their behaviors. There is strong research in the field to confirm the advantages...
Words: 482 - Pages: 2
...The Behavioural Model of Abnormality The Behavioural model works on the basis that mental illness is learned behaviour, and that we learn it through the same ways that we learn normal behaviour. The Model divides these ways of learning into three groups. Classical conditioning, operant conditioning and social learning theory (SLT). Classical conditioning is the idea that our response to something can be changed or “conditioned” using other stimuli. We can see this from the Watson and Raynor experiment. In this experiment, an 11 month old child named little Albert was shown, a white rat. After the intitial encounter in which it was established that he showed no fear for the rat, every time the rat was presented cymbals would be smashed behind his head. After several repetitions of this they found that Little Albert was scared of the rat even if the cymbals were not smashed. This shows that they gave him a conditioned response to the rat, that spread to other white fluffy animals as well such as a rabbit and a small dog. From this we can conclude that abnormal behaviour such as a fear of rats can be learned through classical Conditioning. This experiment was however extremely unethical. Little Albert's mother pulled him out before the end of the experiment, so he was never deconditioned from his fear of white fluffy things. He was also put under sever stress while he was part of the experiment. Classical conditioning...
Words: 1087 - Pages: 5
...OUTLINE and EVALUATE the BEHAVIOURAL MODEL (explanation) of ABNORMALITY The basic assumption of the Behavioural Model is that all behaviour is learnt. This can happen in 3 ways: - Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning and Social Learning. Classical Conditioning is ‘learning through association’ e.g. a phobia of small spaces may develop when someone has been frightened having been trapped in a lift. They associate fear with small spaces. As demonstrated by the study on little albert by Watson and Rayners 1920. Before conditioning the loud noise was the unconditioned stimulus and led to fear and crying as an unconditioned response. The white rate was a neutral stimulus and there was no response. During conditioning the loud noise paired with the white rat let to fear and crying as such, after conditioning the white rat led to fear and crying. Operant Conditioning is ‘learning through the consequences of behaviour’. If behaviour is rewarded it will be reinforced. E.g. If a child’s tantrum is rewarded by sweets it will be maintained or increased but if it is punished it will decrease. This is known as direct reinforcement. Social Learning is when behaviour is observed and copied. E.g. a child might develop a fear of spiders by watching a parent being frightened by them. This is shown through the Bobo Doll studies by Bandura and Ross. In the study 3 groups of children watched a video in which they witnessed and adult aggressive towards a Bobo doll but with...
Words: 525 - Pages: 3
...addressed and to develop a treatment plan that will help individuals. This branch of psychology also recognizes that there are many influences such as environmental influences on psychological development. The goal of many mental health professionals is not to force an individual to achieve normality but to help individuals who struggle with mental and emotional disorders to achieve fulfilling and active lives. However, to completely understand what abnormal psychology is we need to understand the origins of abnormal psychology as well as the challenges of defining and classifying normal and abnormal behavior. It is also important to understand how abnormal psychology evolved into a scientific discipline as well as the different viewpoints or models of abnormal psychology. The following paragraphs will hopefully help us to completely understand the branch of abnormal psychology. Origins of Abnormal Psychology The field of abnormal psychology has only existed for about 100 years. Although, there have been many forms of mental illnesses have been recorded throughout history. When an individual exhibited abnormal behavior, it was considered to be caused by demons, spirits, as well as planetary and astral influences. During the Stone Age, an individual exhibited signs of abnormal behavior the skull of the individual...
Words: 1738 - Pages: 7
...Q(a): Explain in your own words what is meant by a 'model of abnormality'?[2] A: Models of abnormality each offers a different explanation for the origins of mental disorders. They are basically the conceptual models, each research and treatment adopted according to it. (b): Describe models of abnormality. [8] A: There are four type of models: Medical model (or Biological method), Psychodynamic model, Behavioral model and the Cognitive model. Medical model (or Biological model) is a view of abnormality that sees mental disorders as being caused by abnormal physiological processes such as genetics, brain damage and chemical imbalance. Abnormality according to this model is seen as an illness or disease. They treat mental disorders with the help of chemotherapy, electroconvulsive therapy and psycho surgery. According to Psychodynamic model, abnormal behavior is caused by underlying psychological forces of which the individuals is probably unaware. It focuses on unconscious mind primarily and according to Sigmund Freud, if a child does not successfully complete any of the psychosexual stages, it will cause abnormality. It is treated by talk therapies and test like the rorshack and free-word association. The Behavioral model has a view that abnormal behavior are maladaptive, learned responses in the environment which can be replaced by more adapted behaviors. These disorders emerge due to classical conditioning, operant conditioning or social learning. It can be...
Words: 1256 - Pages: 6
...Notably, a new genetic study shows even siblings with autism often have very different DNA mutations from one another further implying the heterogeneity of ASD14. Although, the genetic basis is well documented, a large upsurge in clinical cases of idiopathic Autism in recent past directs us to the fact that environmental risk factors might have an important contribution to this upsurge either by causing new mutation or increasing the risk in a genetically predisposed individual 15-17. One such animal model is Valproic acid model of Autism 18-20. This model is based on the discovery that when the anticonvulsant drug, VPA, is administered to women during their first trimester of...
Words: 676 - Pages: 3
...The biological approach states that psychological disorders are physical illnesses, and that the cause may be one or more of the following: brain injury, infection, neurotransmitters or genetics. Accidental brain damage can lead to psychological disorders. Some examples are, a degeneration or malformation of brain cells can cause memory loss often present in Alzheimer’s disease. Korsakoff’s syndrome occurs when alcohol and drugs damage part of the brain involved with memory. We are familiar with the idea that bacteria or viruses causing physical illnesses, e.g. flu or meningitis, however it seems that infection can also cause mental illnesses. For example, influenza has been linked to schizophrenia. Torrey found that the mothers of schizophrenic people had contacted a particular strain of influenza during pregnancy. The virus may enter the unborn child’s brain where it is dormant until puberty, when other hormones activate it, producing schizophrenic symptoms. Neurotransmitters are thought to be out of balance in the nervous systems id individuals with certain psychological disorders/ mental illnesses. Depression has been associated with decrease availability of serotonin, and has also been associated with higher than normal levels of the cortisol hormone. Images of the brain have measured the action of neurotransmitters and associated illness like depression, (Mann et al. 1996). Important new genetic research has highlighted the possibility that some people may be genetically...
Words: 630 - Pages: 3
...Abnormal Psychology Roshaun Hatchett PSY/410 April 25, 2012 Dr. Christopher Daub Abnormal Psychology Abnormal psychology has been in existence for more than a century. Mental illness was approached from a spiritual point of view. Individuals of certain beliefs would misdiagnose others from the spiritual perspective and would assume that evil spirits controlled his or her’s physical, mental, and observable world (Tyrer, 2010). The following will be covered in this document: the origins of abnormal psychology, classification of normal and abnormal behaviors, how abnormal psychology evolved into a scientific discipline, and the theoretical models related to the development of abnormal psychology. The practice of trephination, a procedure that bore holes in a individuals skull to release evil spirits, was taken place in 3000 B.C. in Peru and Bolivia (Tyrer, 2010). Hippocrates was the first to approach abnormal behaviors from a biological perspective. He believed, “When the fluids were out of balance, this was the cause of mental illness” (Tyrer, 2010, para. 6). His theory was considered and almost close to the truth, in time his theory was proven to be inaccurate. Years later, Freud suggested the idea of conscious and subconscious processes to be the explanation of odd behaviors. He continued to suggest ideas from a psychodynamic perspective, but in the end lacked evidence in his theory. Freud’s theory inspired Wilhelm Wundt to elaborate on his theory. He...
Words: 979 - Pages: 4
...different views of the CAUSE of abnormality. The models have different views about how abnormality comes about in the first place Assumptions of the biological model • Abnormality is caused by physical factors – as all behaviour is associated with changes in brain function, abnormal behaviour will be caused by changes in either the structure or function of the brain. - For example in terms of the structure of the brain (neuroanatomy) a damaged hypothalamus has been linked to anorexia - In terms of the function of the brain, neurotransmitters and hormones have been linked to psychopathology, e.g. low levels of serotonin have been lined to depression. • Abnormality is inherited – the genetic view is that there are abnormal genes that are inherited, i.e. passed down from parents to children, even though they may not be shown in every generation. Family, twin and adoption studies are used to establish concordance rates (this shows the extent to which members of the same family share a particular characteristic) to test for genetic predispositions as an explanation of abnormality. - For example Holland et al (1988) found a 56% concordance rate for identical twins (MZ) and only a 5% concordance rate for non-identical twins (DZ) in anorexia nervosa which supports the idea of a genetic basis for abnormality. Evaluation of the biological model Strengths 1. Physiological evidence – A strength of the biological model is that the use of brain scans...
Words: 589 - Pages: 3
...the result of operant conditioning when you learn by reinforcement/ reward. For example, if a child showed fear of a dog and parent rewarded the child with a treat the child would repeat the same behaviour in order to get rewarded which could then develop into a phobia. Abnormality, according to behaviourists, can also be explained through vicarious conditioning ‘social learning’. This is when people learn by imitating or observing role models. For example, for some young girls their role model may be older female celebrities who are thin and often complimented on their figure. Young girls may aim to lose weight to imitate their role models which could develop into eating disorder. The behavioural approach to abnormality does not place blame on the person with an abnormality which means they are not stigmatised but the ethics of this approach are debatable as it could be placing blame on the parents or society. Additionally, this approach only focuses on symptoms a client displays rather than the underlying causes; for example with a phobia treatment attempts to make the client unlearn it, not explain or find out why the phobia exists in the first place. When this issue, the psychodynamic approach to abnormality is the only approach that attempts to treat the cause. They...
Words: 489 - Pages: 2
...Discuss two or more definitions of abnormality (12 marks) One definition of abnormality is “deviation from social norms” and under this definition a person’s thinking or behaviour is classified as abnormal if it violates the unwritten rules about what is expected or acceptable behaviour in a particular social group. Behaviour may be incomprehensible to others or make others feel threatened or uncomfortable. For example, someone would be classified as being abnormal if they laughed at a funeral, as this is socially unacceptable. A weakness of this definition is that it lacks cultural relativity as social behaviour varies when different cultures are compared. For e.g. it’s common in south Europe to stand much closer to strangers than in the UK. As well as this voice pitch and volume, touching, directions of gaze and acceptable subjects for discussion have all been found to vary between cultures. This means what is considered deviant or abnormal varies considerably across cultures, thus weakening this definition. Another limitation of deviation from social norms is that it lacks time validity. This is because social norms change over time; behaviour that was once seen as abnormal may be acceptable and vice versa. For example, drink driving was once considered acceptable but is now seen as socially unacceptable whereas homosexuality has changed the other way. Until 1980 homosexuality was considered a psychological disorder but is considered acceptable today. This is a weakness...
Words: 3190 - Pages: 13
...definitions of abnormality (12 marks) One definition of abnormality is “deviation from social norms” and under this definition a person’s thinking or behaviour is classified as abnormal if it violates the unwritten rules about what is expected or acceptable behaviour in a particular social group. Behaviour may be incomprehensible to others or make others feel threatened or uncomfortable. For example, someone would be classified as being abnormal if they laughed at a funeral, as this is socially unacceptable. A weakness of this definition is that it lacks cultural relativity as social behaviour varies when different cultures are compared. For e.g. it’s common in south Europe to stand much closer to strangers than in the UK. As well as this voice pitch and volume, touching, directions of gaze and acceptable subjects for discussion have all been found to vary between cultures. This means what is considered deviant or abnormal varies considerably across cultures, thus weakening this definition. Another limitation of deviation from social norms is that it lacks time validity. This is because social norms change over time; behaviour that was once seen as abnormal may be acceptable and vice versa. For example, drink driving was once considered acceptable but is now seen as socially unacceptable whereas homosexuality has changed the other way. Until 1980 homosexuality was considered a psychological disorder but is considered acceptable today. This is a weakness because it means abnormality cannot...
Words: 3191 - Pages: 13
... Throughout the modifications certain principles have remained which are known as the core concepts. These core concepts are what define abnormal behavior. There is no clear precise definition for abnormal, which gives rise to challenges in classifying abnormal and normal behavior. Abnormal psychology is a scientific discipline, in which a person acquires information on a person’s behavior and then measures the behavior to hypothesize a cause and treatment. There is a core concept that says that there are multiple causes to abnormal behavior, understanding this can lead to learning about and treating abnormal behavior. These multiple causes can be comprehended by learning about the psychosocial, biological, and sociocultural theoretical models related to the development of abnormal behavior. Abnormal The study of abnormal behavior began early in time when people tried to explain deviant behaviors. Abnormal behavior may have been first attributed to evil spirits. It was common for abnormal behaviors to be associated with witches or sorcerers. With time different areas, such as the psychosocial, biological and sociocultural, saw that they could find an explanation for these odd behaviors. Throughout time there have been problems with defining abnormal behaviors....
Words: 1597 - Pages: 7
...Understanding Abnormality In Psychology, a model is defined as a set of assumptions and concepts that help scientists explain and interpret observations. There are a number of varying models that have come to be respected throughout the study of behavioral abnormality, all designed by highly intelligent scientists. The most famous of these models is the psychodynamic model, first generated by Sigmund Freud. Freud believed that the mind is made up of three parts, the conscious, subconscious, and the unconscious. The unconscious is believed to contain significant and disturbing material which we need to keep out of awareness because they are too threatening to acknowledge fully. Personally, I find this model the most applicable when trying to understand psychological abnormality. It is based on the concept that psychological illnesses develop out of repressed emotions and thoughts from experiences in the past, and as a result of this repression, alternative behavior replaces what is being repressed. A patient is considered cured when he or she can admit what is being repressed. The main cure for illnesses under this model is free association. This is a technique where the patient is free to describe any thoughts or feelings that may come to mind, despite how useless they may seem. During this time, a psychiatrist tries to interpret where the trouble areas are. This model is often quite successful, especially when the patient feels comfortable and at ease with the doctor. ...
Words: 427 - Pages: 2
...theories and/or studies) relevant to the study of abnormal behaviour . Before diagnosing, it is key that the terms ‘abnormality’ and ‘normality’ are defined. Onedefinition/some definitions are... Abnormality can be defined as atypical behaviour out of social and cultural norms that are disturbing to oneself and others and that is maladaptive and unjustifiable to themselves or others. The concept however is difficult to grasp as there may become exceptions. Therefore there are many problems with theories and studies in diagnosing abnormality.One theory is Jahoda’s mental health model. In her model, she tries to define normality,rather than abnormality. It includes six categories: self positive attitude, self actualization(potential), personal autonomy (independency), accurate reality of the world and self, ability toadapt to change and resistance to stress. If one is able to check all six categories, they are considered normal. In a way, it is useful as it criticises other models and psychologists for onlyapproaching ‘abnormality’ by the mental illnesses rather than what is considered healthy. Eval. Some empirical evidence also supports her model such as research in unemployment. It wasfound that those without jobs for a substantial amount of time were unhappy due to lack of ability, not because they were poor or were in financial crisis. However, Jahoda’s model is tooidealistic and in some cases like personal autonomy, children and the elderly may not be able toachieve this...
Words: 284 - Pages: 2
