Psychological Abnormality
Psychological Abnormality There have been many attempts to define psychological abnormality. One of these is the Failure to Function Adequately that defines abnormality in the sense that every human being should be able to achieve some sense of personal well-being and make some contribution to a larger social group. Any individual who fails to function adequately in this respect is seen as 'abnormal'. According to Sue et al (1994), there are two ways by which people fail to function adequately being the practical and clinical criteria. Buss (1966) and Miller & Morley (1986) suggests that a failure to function adequately occurs when personal distress or discomfit which takes the form of intense anxiety and depression, loss of appetite etc. But we cannot use personal distress criteria to define abnormality since it is normal or an appropriate response in particular circumstances. For example, depression as a response to the death of a loved one, it is only when it persists after a long period of time or the source has been removed or most persons have adjusted to it/them, that it becomes abnormal. Also some forms of mental disorders are not necessarily accompanied by personal distress. Example; dissocial personality disorder which involves repeated acts of violence and crime without experiencing guilt or remorse and substance related disorders like excessive use of alcohol may
Discuss the range of methods available to the psychologist.
Discuss the range of methods available to the psychologist. (2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2) Experiments are the only way that the cause and effect can be established. Experiments are different from non-experimental methods as they enable us to study cause and effect which allows for accurate control of variables, being the independent variable (IV) and the dependant variable (DV). Control is intended to isolate the key variable (IV) in order to examine the outcome with another variable (DV). In most cases the IV is thought of as the cause and the DV is the effect. One more variable to consider is the extraneous variable (EV). These are factors such as temperature, time of day, weather, and noisiness of environment. Sometimes not all EV's can be controlled and they then become confounding variables. This is thought to be the most fundamental problem in research as it leads to a lack of certainty in being able to determine cause and effect. An advantage of this is experiments can be repeated as the more times you carry out the same experiment, the more secure the experimenter feels that the theory is more reliable. It can be easily repeated as it consists of easily changing procedures and measures. Laboratory experiments are considered artificial as the participants are asked to perform unnatural experiments which do not resemble the way this behaviour occurs in real life. This means
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
Discuss the use of animals in psychological research
Discuss the problems that Psychologists have faced when attempting to define a set of ethical guidelines for research using human participants. The main dilemma faced by psychologists is that it is often difficult to balance the scientific validity of experiments, with the need to protect the rights and integrity of their participants. A number of issues emerge: how far should psychologists go in trying to further their knowledge? Do the ends justify the means? Do we have a responsibility to predict the potential stress and harm to individuals (or society in the case of socially sensitive research). The BPS (1993) has published ethical guidelines for conducting research with human participants and while, many of the research covered here is either American or earlier than these guidelines, they give us a focus for discussion. One of the most problematic guidelines is that of DECEPTION - the BPS suggests that participants shouldn't be deliberately mislead except when scientifically necessary. This causes a number of problems: social psychological research (like Asch's conformity studies or Milgram on obedience) relies on deception to increase ecological validity and lower the effects of demand characteristics - in fact, most of these kinds of experiments would be impossible without some deception. Milgram (1972) argued that to enhance the realism of his situation total
Outline and evaluate behavioural therapies to treat mental disorders.
"Some Psychologists claim that behavioural therapies are unethical and of limited value because they treat symptoms rather than causes" Discuss behavioural therapies for treating mental disorders with reference to those such as those raised in the quote above (30 marks) The behavioural model of abnormality makes a number of assumptions in relation to the causes of abnormal behaviour. Firstly the model assumes that inappropriate behaviour is learned and therefore it can be 'unlearned' and more appropriate behaviours learnt instead. Two ways behaviourists believe that behaviour is learnt is through classical and operant conditioning, and as a result various therapies have stemmed from these methods of learning. From classical conditioning, where behaviour is learnt through association the therapies such as implosion, flooding, aversion therapy and systematic desensitisation have been developed. Implosion and flooding are similar techniques used with anxiety-producing disorders. Both therapies expose the client to the feared experience but in slightly different ways. Implosion does this with the therapist getting the client to imagine their worst fears (for example, imagining they are in a room full of spiders), the anxiety created by this is as a result gradually reduced as the patient learns that no harm is coming to them and so the phobia will eventually disappear. Flooding
Individuals looking for success with their career within their organisation can do so by working on their skills which they will face in this career. They need to work on their core competency,
Discuss the principle that businesses have many functions that need to work in harmony in order to achieve the organisational goals Individuals looking for success with their career within their organisation can do so by working on their skills which they will face in this career. They need to work on their core competency, cross-functional abilities, managerial traits and people management skills. The competition in business compels corporates to retain, develop and attract talent for enhancing their competitive edge. This is also a main requirement if you are looking for increased productivity. For the individual, it is a great opportunity to enter into the mainstream, developing their competitive edge to support the organisation as a whole and assume functional importance. Although training can be organisation driven, it is more rewarding and apt if individuals take part in this process in spirit and purpose, constantly leaving new skills and improving or replacing old ones. The idea of this is so the individual can identify to themselves their progress within the organisation, so they know what needs to improve, how long it will take and how this will affect their career. Looking at the situation in the perspective of a career, the individual can focus on career development as well as achieving their organisational goals. In this way the potential of the individual is
Methodological Evaluation of Milgram & Hoflings Studies
Methodological Evaluation of Milgram & Hofling's Studies Milgram's study (1963) was designed to test the 'Germans are different' hypothesis, to see if ordinary men would obey and order that would involve another human being hurt. Hofling's study (1966) was also designed to test obedience, but used female nurses who were unaware that they were being experimented on as his subjects rather than men. There are many criticisms of both studies, particularly based around the external validities of the experiments. An experiment is externally valid if its findings can be generalised beyond the specific situation of the experiment. Milgram's study lacks ecological validity/mundane realism; most people do not find themselves in total control of other peoples' lives in the same way that they were in this experiment everyday. This lack of mundane realism could and will have influenced the actions of the participants and the overall results of the experiment as well as its reliability. It can be said, however, that Hofling's study proves Milgram's study in an ecologically valid environment. The mundane realism of the situation almost ensures that the reactions of the nurses are what they would have been in any other similar situation. The situation in which they are tested is a normal one which they will have become used to in their daily jobs, increasing the reliability of the
Describe and evaluate two or more biological explanations of schizophrenia
. Describe and evaluate two or more biological explanations of schizophrenia (30 marks) Schizophrenia is a server disorder that is characterized by disturbances in thought, emotion and behaviour. This idea of schizophrenia came from Krapelin and Bleuer in the later 19 th century. The word schizophrenia comes from the Greek words 'schizen' (meaning split) and 'spren' (meaning mind). Two major types of schizophrenia are catatonic schizophrenia, where patients alternate between immobility and excitement, and paranoid schizophrenia, where patients possesses delusion such as delusions of grandeur (perhaps seeing themselves as Napoleon) or delusional jealousy, where they might believe their partner is having an affair. (doesn't explain the ?) One of the problems in classifying schizophrenia is that the range of symptoms is so wide that different patients sometimes have no symptoms in common. A classic study by Rosenham (on being sane in insane places) also showed that psychiatrists were all too willing to diagnose the disorder despite very limited information on patient's symptoms. It has even been suggested that American psychologists were 10 times more likely to diagnose schizophrenia than their British counterparts. This leads to the conclusion that the best way to cure oneself of schizophrenia is to cross the Atlantic! (doesn't answer ?) A major explanation of schizophrenia
Psychology Case Study on Dennis Nilsen
Psychology Case Study on Dennis Nilsen Psychodynamic .) Causes of Abnormality According to Freud we all have sexual and aggressive desires driving us to behave the way we do, however we repress these desires to a sub-conscience level because society oppresses that sort of behaviour. It goes against the norms of society. Sometimes we let these desires manifest themselves in the form of a Freudian Slip. According to Freud we develop through five "Psychosexual Stages" at a young age. How we move through them will determine our personality type, at each stage you must resolve a conflict if you skip this stage this causes fixation at that stage, in later life, this is sometimes the cause of abnormal behaviour. These are the five stages: Oral Stage, most fascination is involved with the mouth. 2 Anal Stage, most fascination is involved with the Anus. 3 Phallic Stage, young begin to desire their parents (op sex), 4 Latency Stage, Girls and Boys are mostly separated, 5 Genital Stage, Stage where enjoyment is in the genitals, Conflict at certain stages can arise through childhood experiences. 2.) Treatment Implications The three treatments are Dream Analysis, Hypnosis and Therapy The idea of all these treatments is to access repressed memories, ideas or conflicts and to encourage them to face up to whatever emerges from the sub conscience. Medical 1.) Causes of
Black is Beautiful
Hraba, J. & Grant, G. (1970) Black is Beautiful: A Re-examination of Racial Preference and Identification Background This study by Hraba and Grant (1970) replicates a classic investigation by Clark and Clark. Clark and Clark (1947) developed a simple test using black and white dolls. They found that black children preferred white dolls when asked to choose which were nice, which they would like to play with and which were a nice colour. And chose black dolls when asked which dolls looked bad. Clark and Clark suggested that black children had negative attitudes towards themselves and their cultural background. Hraba and Grant were interested to find out if the childrens' preference for white dolls had changed considering the changes (particularly the civil rights movements of the 1960s which in part led to less segregation between black and white people) that had happened in the USA since the Clark and Clark study had been carried out. Aim The aim of the study was to replicate Clark & Clark's study to re-examine the racial preferences of black children in an interracial setting. Procedure/Method The study was a quasi (sometimes called natural) experiment. The independent variable was the race of the child being asked (white or black) and the dependent variable was the child's racial preference, racial awareness and racial
