The biological explanation of eating disorders is probably the most popular.

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(a) (i) The behavioural model says that abnormality is caused by faulty learning. Learning can include operant and classical conditioning, or imitation (social learning). For example, being bitten by a dog may classically condition anxiety to dogs and generalise to all dogs and cause a phobia. If you see a parent being very scared of dogs, you may also learn to be scared of them through social learning.

(ii) The cognitive model says that abnormality is caused by irrational thoughts. For instance, Beck's Triad model explains depression by saying that depressed people have exaggerated negative thoughts about themselves, the world, and the future. These irrational thoughts are probably due to genetics and to early experience.

(b) The ideal mental health definition of abnormality is limited by cultural relativism. Jahoda's criteria for ideal mental health were devised in western individualistic societies, and some of them, such as autonomy and self-actualisation, would not apply in collectivist societies where groups are emphasised more than individuals. In fact they would be frowned upon.
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Deviation from social norms is also limited by cultural relativism. Social norms are accepted patterns of behaviour in a particular society, and these obviously vary between societies. Hearing voices is seen as a sign of abnormality in our society, but in some pacific island cultures such people become shamans and spiritual leaders.

(c) The biological explanation of eating disorders is probably the most popular. The best evidence for it comes from studies of MZ and DZ twins. MZ twins are genetically identical but DZ twins are only as alike as brothers and sisters. If a condition is ...

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