PL3236 ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY

Welcome!
Instructor:
Asst. Prof. Keng Shian-Ling
(psykeng@nus.edu.sg )
Teaching Assistant:
Mr. Lee Li Neng
(psylln@nus.edu.sg )

2014, 2012, 2010 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

TO GAIN HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE RELATED TO

WORKING WITH INDIVIDUALS STRUGGLING WITH
MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES...

These are some volunteering opportunities to

explore during the semester:
Institute of Mental Health:
https://www.imh.com.sg/form.aspx?id=463&ekfrm=539
Singapore Mental Health Association:
http://www.samhealth.org.sg/volunteers/

Not required, but encouraged

Lecture 1
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rights reserved.

An Introduction to Abnormal Psychology: Historical

and Modern Perspectives

NORMAL VS. ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR

Being

different

Individuals possessing abilities that distinguish

them from the general public

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NORMAL VS. ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR

Deviant

behavior

Behaviors straying from societal norms or

standards

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NORMAL VS. ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR

Behaving

dangerously

Result from intense emotional states or may

signal the presence of a psychological disorder,
but alone is not necessary or sufficient
Behaving

dysfunctionally

Patterns of behavior that interfere with normal

daily routines, causing significant distress

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DEFINITION OF ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR

Inconsistent
with societal
norms

Inconsistent
with cultural
norms

Abnormal
Behavior
Emotional
Distress

Inconsistent
with
developmental
norms
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Interferes with
daily
functioning

DEFINITION OF ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR

Behavior that is inconsistent with the

individuals developmental, cultural, and
societal norms; creates significant emotional
distress; and/or interferes with daily
functioning.

RESEARCH HOT TOPIC: APPROACHES

TO ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR
Categorical vs.

Do you meet diagnostic criteria

or not?
Things to consider:
-Just as people are different and
unique, so are symptoms
-At what point is enough
enough regarding ones
symptoms?

Dimensional

Abnormal behavior is
constantly changing
Things to consider:
-Abnormal behavior can be
placed on a continuum
-Incorporates quantitative
criteria versus an all or
nothing way of thinking

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FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN

ADDRESSING ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR
Personal

Socioeconomic

characteristics,
such as sex, race,
or ethnicity
Age

status (SES)
Education level
Biological
changes

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HISTORY AND ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR

Ancient

Theories

-Ancient cultures, such as ancient Egypt,

believed that spirits control aspects of a persons
behavior.
-Treatment
-Trephination

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HISTORY AND ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR

Classical

Greek and Roman

Views
-Hippocrates (460377 BC), father of
medicine
- Identified the following
psychological symptoms: hallucinations,
delusions, melancholia, hysteria, and
mania
- Environmental factors, physical
factors, and four humours (yellow
bile, black bile, blood, phlegm)

HISTORY AND ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR

Middle Ages

through the

Renaissance
-Influence of the Roman Catholic Church
-Abnormal behavior = work of the devil/
witchcraft

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HISTORY AND ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR

Renaissance period (14th to 17th century):

Enlightenment by

Johann Weyer Dutch physician

Paracelsus Swiss physician

16th century

Emergence of asylums

HISTORY AND ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR

Century moral treatment
characterized by:

Nineteenth

-The removal of patients from warehouse asylums into specialized

facilities devoted to the care and treatment of the mentally ill
-More humane method of treatment
-Use of respect, kindness, religion, and vocation
-Key founders: Philippe Pinel, William Tuke, Benjamin Rush,
Dorothea Dix

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HISTORY AND ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR

Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815)

Animal magnetism
Demonstrated the power of placebo effect

HISTORY AND ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR

Work of Emil Kraepelin

(1856-1926), German
psychiatrist
Developed a classification
system for mental disorders
Identified Dementia praecox
modern day schizophrenia

Contemporary Views of
Abnormal Behavior and
Treatment

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PSYCHOLOGICAL MODELS
Psychoanalysis

- Founder: Sigmund Freud (18561939)

- Three regions of the mind: id, ego,
and superego
- Defense mechanisms
-

E.g., denial, sublimation, projection,

rationalization, repression

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PSYCHOLOGICAL MODELS
Psychoanalysis
-

Psychosexual stages of
development
Treatment strategies: dream
analysis, free association,
interpretation, insight, etc.
Goal: unearth intrapsychic
conflicts

PSYCHOLOGICAL MODELS
Modern

Psychoanalytic Theories

- Carl Jung and the development of analytic

therapy
- Alfred Adler and the development of individual
psychology
- Contemporary models of psychoanalysis
- Ego psychology
- Object relations theory

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PSYCHOLOGICAL MODELS
Behavioral
-

We are Products and Producers of our environment

Behavior is learned in a variety of fashions, such as
-

Model

operant conditioning
classical conditioning
reinforcement
punishment
social learning

Key figures: John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner, Joseph

Wolpe, Albert Bandura

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PSYCHOLOGICAL MODELS
Cognitive

Model

- Founder: Aaron Beck (1921- )

- Perception is our Reality
- -Distorted views exist for someone with depression:
negative view of self, the world, and the future
- Treatment: focused on changing distorted cognitions or
thoughts through behavioral experiments and traditional
narrative or talk therapy

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COMMON COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS

After reviewing
these terms,
think of a time
when you
personally
adopted one of
these negative
assumptions.
Where did this
faulty belief
come from?
How would you
stop this way of
thinking in the
future?

2014, 2012, 2010 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

PSYCHOLOGICAL MODELS
Humanistic

1. Founder: Carl Rogers (1902-1987)

2. Client-centered therapy

Genuineness
Empathic understanding
Unconditional positive regard

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BIOLOGICAL MODELS

Assumes that abnormal behavior results from biological

processes

Hereditary factors
Biological scarring
Brain malfunctioning or structural abnormalities
Viral infection theory

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SOCIOCULTURAL MODELS
COMBINE ISSUES
SURROUNDING
Gender

roles

Socioeconomic

status
Race

and ethnicity

Interpersonal

Social

norms

Cultural

expectations
Presence

or
absence of social
support

resources
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HOW EACH PIECE OF THE

PUZZLE WORKS

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THE DIATHESIS-STRESS MODEL

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HOW IT ALL COMES TOGETHERAN ADOLESCENT HAS

BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH ANOREXIA NERVOSA

Biological model
There is an imbalance of
serotonin in the brain

A biopsychosocial
way of thinking!

Cognitive model
Distorted thoughts about
ones body weight and
appearance

Sociocultural model
Psychological model
Societal and familial
Inability to cope with
influences on the view of
stress
beauty, emphasizing thin ideal
2014, 2012, 2010 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.