Chapter 1 Abnormal Psychology

1. CHAPTER 1
Abnormal Psychology: An Overview

2. What is Abnormal?
Suffering
Elements of
abnormality
include:
Maladaptiveness
Deviancy
Violation of the Standards of Society
Social Discomfort
Irrationality and Unpredictability
Dangerousness

3. What is Abnormal: key concepts
• Statistical deviance from the norm
• Impairment of functioning
• Distress

4. Advantages of classification
• Provide nomenclature
• Permits sharing information
• Social and political implications
• Classify disorders, not people

5. Disadvantages of classification
• Stigma
• Public
• Private/self-concept
• Stereotyping
• Lose sight of individual differences

6. Culture and Abnormality
• Cultural factors influence
• Presentation of disorders
• Culture-specific disorders
• Example: ataque de nervios

7. Prevalence
Prevalence
Number of
active cases in
population
during any given
period of time
Typically
expressed as
percentages
Different types
of prevalence
estimates

8. Incidence
Incidence
Number of new
cases in
population over
given period of
time
Incidence
figures are
typically lower
than prevalence
figures

9. Research Approaches: Self-Report
Participants asked to provide
information about themselves
Interviews and Questionnaires
May be inaccurate

10. Research Approaches: Observation
Collecting information without asking
participants directly for it
Outward behavior can be observed directly
Biological variables can be observed via
technologically advanced methods

11. Research Designs
• Case study
• Correlational Research
• Experimental Design

12. Case Studies
Specific individual observed and
described in detail
Subject to bias of author of case
study
Low generalizability

13. Correlation
• Relationship between two variables
• Correlation coefficient
• Statistically significant?
• Positive or negative?
• How strong?
• Correlation does not mean causation
• A→B
• B→A
• C→B
A

14. Experimental Method
• Independent Variable
• Manipulated by the researcher
• Typically an experimental group vs. control group
• Dependent Variable
• The outcome of interest
• Random Assignment
• Participants have equal chance of being in experimental group or
control
• Supposed to reduce confounding variables

15. Single-case experiments: ABAB Design

16. Issues to consider
• Internal validity
• How controlled?
• Can we trust results of the study?
• External validity
• Are the results relevant outside the study itself?
• Generalizability