"Attempts to define abnormality are always limited by cultural differences" Consider how definitions of abnormality may be influenced by cultural differences
"Attempts to define abnormality are always limited by cultural differences" Consider how definitions of abnormality may be influenced by cultural differences Cultural differences are always a problem when defining abnormality. What one would consider completely normal in one culture would be considered abnormal in another, for example the island of Java often set fire to a ball soaked in petrol and then play football with it. Here that would be considered wrong and abnormal but is an everyday occurrence for the people of Java. This concept doesn't only apply to eastern cultures; the English could be defined as abnormal by other cultures definitions, even by other western societies e.g. it would not be considered normal by the Italians to wait at a red light when there are no other cars around as the British often do. The 'Deviation from Social Norms' definition of abnormality is greatly limited by cultural differences, for example in Japan there is a very strong work ethic. Those who do not wish to conform and work hard are labelled insane and confined in asylums. If such behaviour was displayed in England they would not be considered insane, they are only treated in such a way in Japan because they have deviated from that cultures social norm. When using this approach to define abnormality you would first have to consider what is normal behaviour for that particular
Compare and contrast the main approaches - Biological and Behaviourist, biological and cognitive, Psychodynamic and Behaviourist.
Compare and Contrast the Psychodynamic and Cognitive approaches in terms of similarities and differences. [12 Marks] The cognitive and psychodynamic approaches have many similarities and differences; these include debates in nature and nurture, the usefulness of these approaches, deterministic and scientific/non scientific. The psychodynamic approach takes into account both nature and nurture, however the cognitive approach has failed to recognise the influence of nature and nurture. Freud claimed that adult personality is the product of innate drives (nature) and childhood experiences (nurture). These innate drives include the structure of the personality, Id, ego and superego as well as the psychosexual development every child passes through. If a child does not pass through these processes successfully it could lead to abnormalities in behaviour. The cognitive approach has carried out research into intelligence but has not looked at the influence of genes in its research or environmental factors (such as wealth) that could influence intelligence. Therefore this clearly indicates that both approaches are different in terms of nature and nurture. The cognitive approach is useful and has been applied successfully in therapy. As one of the core assumptions of the cognitive approach is that mental processes influence our behaviour, therefore if these process are
Personality in Sports
Task One Personality Personality is a mixture of a person's traits and characteristics which make them different from everyone else. Sports performers personalities' may widely vary or be very similar. When describing their personality, just listing characteristics is not always 100% accurate. This is because their characteristics may be different when not playing sports. For example, Eric Cantona may only be aggressive when on the football pitch and not in his everyday life. Because of this, Hollander then designed a structure of personality which was split into 3 layers: . Psychological core - true beliefs and values 2. Typical responses - normal response to a situation. 3. Role-related behaviour - response is affected by the social environment the person is in. These can also be shown on a diagram like this: Social Environment Structure of personality example - Theo Walcott. CHARACTERISTICS PSYCHOLOGICAL CORE TYPICAL RESPONSES ROLE-RELATED BEHAVIOUR Humble Quiet Motivated Committed Focussed Competitive Driven Fearless Another way in which sports psychologists differentiate between sports personalities is with the trait approach. Two psychologists, Cattell and Eyesnck, discovered that there are two types of traits: - Primary or source traits - genetic/inherited - Secondary or surface traits - influenced by learning and experiences. Eyesnck said
With reference to alternative research findings, critically assess Aschs study into conformity
With reference to alternative research findings, critically assess Asch's study into conformity A study that criticises Asch is by William & Sogon (1984) who claimed that the group Asch created did not reflect all groups found in society. They found that majority influence was significantly greater among friends than among strangers. Therefore Asch failed to realise that he could have obtained much stranger majority influence if he had replaced groups of strangers with an in0group of friends of the genuine participants & consequently this limits Asch findings to only groups of strangers & as a result lacks generalisability to other populations. And to support this Abrams et al (1990) argued that 1st year psychology participants would show more conformity if the other group members were perceived as belonging to an in group (other 1st yr psychology students) than if they were perceived as belonging to an out group (history students). Eagli & Carli (1981) criticise Asch study for being gender biased. They claim that in Western societies a masculine bias exists & as a consequence women show higher levels of conformity than men in the Asch study. They also found that in feminist societies, women actually show less conformity than men. This criticises Ash because he ignored complex gender characteristics that would have affected his results. Also David & Turner (1996) criticise
Evaluation of Freud's little Hans study.
Evaluate the little Hans study Strengths of the little Hans study are that they support the usefulness of case studies and have the ability to reveal and treat the origins of abnormal behaviour. In fact some forms of psychotherapy rely on building up a long and detailed case history as an aid to understanding and then helping the client. Case studies like that of little Hans are able to produce very in-depth qualitative data. In fact Freud argued that it was the special and intimate relationship between Hans and his father that displayed such progress of the analysis However, this case study only relates to little Hans as one individual and therefore there is a danger in generalising the findings to the population. There is no way of assessing how typical little Hans was and whether or not his situation can be generalised as the study could have been unique between Freud, Hans's father and little Hans. As well as this, Hans's father and mother were supporters of Freud's ideas thus they may have been raising little Hans in relation to Freud's theories so when it came to giving evidence of little Hans's phobia they did so in relation to Frauds' theories. Freud himself did not regularly meet little Hans as he only met him on one or two occasions, so Freud was only interpreting what Hans's father was interpreting of little Hans so it lacks a lot of objectivity. The little
Definitions Of Abnormality. The definition of what constitutes normal behaviour has undergone dramatic transformations throughout history
25/1/12 Definitions of Abnormality The definition of what constitutes normal behaviour has undergone dramatic transformations throughout history. Before the application of scientific thinking, any behaviour that seemed outside an individuals control was thought to be the product of super natural forces and was dealt with by extremities like exorcism or burning, etc. Although we have moved on in our understanding of what constitutes normal and abnormal behaviour (and therefore who needs treatment), the definition of abnormality itself inevitably remains a judgement. There have been some attempts to define this elusive concept, each capturing some aspects of what we might expect from a true definition of this term, yet no definition is adequate on its own. Consequently, abnormality is usually defined by several characteristics at the same time, rather than one alone. The first definition of abnormal behaviour is deviation from social norms. The term 'deviation' in this definition refers to deviant behaviour which is considered anti-social or undesirable by the majority of society members. In any society there are standards of acceptable behaviour which are set by the social groups, adhered by those socialised into that group and are often in place for good reason. An example of a social norm is politeness, however social standards are not just restricted to rules of
Outline and evaluate two or more therapies used in the treatment of schizophrenia.
Treating Schizophrenia 'Therapies can be time-consuming and, in some cases, uncomfortable for the client. It is, therefore, very important to offer the most appropriate and effective type of treatment.' Outline and evaluate two or more therapies used in the treatment of schizophrenia. Different people choose different therapies for schizophrenia because the difference in treatments is so vast with different levels of intensity and effectiveness. Treatments are usually selected by which the patient feels most comfortable with. There are two main types of therapies, Biological and Psychological. Antipsychotic medication is a biological therapy. These are drugs that are effective in treating the most disturbing forms of psychotic illness such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Antipsychotic medication helps the person with the disorder function as well as possible in their life. Conventional antipsychotics (for example chlorpromazine) are used primarily to combat the positive symptoms of schizophrenia such as hallucinations. The basic mechanism of conventional antipsychotics is to reduce the effects of dopamine and so reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia, hence their alter ego, dopamine antagonists. They bind to dopamine receptors but do not stimulate them, thus blocking their action. By reducing stimulation of the dopamine system in the brain, antipsychotics can
Compare and Contrast the five main perspectives in psychology
In this assignment I will be describing the five major theoretical approaches to psychology. These are; Behaviorism, Biological, Cognitive, Humanist and Psychoanalytical. I will then attempt to compare and contrast them, and its practical application in modern psychology. The biological approach focuses on the biological underpinnings of behavior and the effects of evolution and genetics. The premise is that behavior and mental processes can be explained by understanding human physiology and anatomy. Biological psychologists focus mostly on the brain and the nervous system. It implies the use of biology as a means of describing and explaining psychological functioning. They believe our behaviour is linked to the processes in our physiological make-up. The functions of the brain, nervous and hormonal systems are key to their research. The origins of this approach can be traced back to the Greek physician Galen, who believed that the levels of such fluids as blood and bile affected our temperament and personality. As our understanding of the brain and associated systems continues to evolve so will the ideas and theories of this paradigm. One aspect of this approach is the notion of Reductionism (also used by Behaviourists). This is where area of research is broken down into basic forms or units. From the biological perspective it sees nerve activity, muscle movements and
Discuss two or more biological therapies for schizophrenia
Discuss two or more biological therapies for schizophrenia (9 + 16) Biological therapies for schizophrenia come in two forms: antipsychotic medication, and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Considering the eclectic nature of schizophrenia as a disorder, the debate over appropriate and effective treatment is heated, and many psychologists are still unclear over which is the ideal method for tackling the disorder. Antipsychotic medications are commonly divided into two categories: conventional and atypical. Conventional antipsychotics bind to dopamine receptors but do not stimulate them, blocking the way for displaced dopamine to cause a chemical imbalance in a schizophrenic's biology. By reducing the effects of dopamine, positive symptoms such as hallucinations can be reduced, in line with the view of the dopamine hypothesis. Whilst atypical antipsychotics also act on the dopamine system, it is debated whether the drugs' ability to reduce negative symptoms such as avolition stems from a varying way of dealing with the dopamine system, or, alternatively, the additional effect of blocking serotonin. Kapur and Remington suggested in 2001 that whilst conventional antipsychotics block dopamine receptors long-term, atypical medication does so temporarily, before dissociating to allow normal transmission of the chemical. The differing ways in which the drugs work is central to the
Discuss the Role of Individual Differences in Stress
One of the criticisms of explanations or contributors of stress when looking at it broadly is that it can vary from person to person - an individual's personality or gender can have an effect not only on the likelihood that they may be stressed in particular situations, but also to what extent that may take place. It has been suggested that the differences between men and women can contribute to what both find stressful and consequently, how they cope in stressful situations. There are three main possible differences which could be used to explain the differences between males and females and their response to stress. The biological explanation suggests that males and females have evolved different physiological responses to stress due to their roles in the early evolution of humans. For example, Taylor et all suggested that when in stressful situations, men are more likely to respond with 'fight or flight' in keeping with their hunter role, whilst women 'tend and befriend' since they had the childcare role. It is thought that the hormone oxytocin may also play a part in how women respond to stress, thus producing a more protective response in women. Frankenhauser investigated this by performing a study where he told participants that it was to be a study of pain and offered them the chance to either wait alone or together. Men chose to wait alone in general whilst
