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Psy3604: Introduction to Abnormal Psychology
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Psy3604: Introduction to Abnormal Psychology. Instructor: Kelly Berg. TA: Jenny Su. Autumn Rydberg ... Abnormal psychology is the study of behavior, thoughts, ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation
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Title: Psy3604: Introduction to Abnormal Psychology
1
Psy3604 Introduction to Abnormal Psychology
- Instructor Kelly Berg
- TA Jenny Su
- Autumn Rydberg
- Fall, 2007
- Wednesdays 620 - 850 pm
- Smith Hall, Room 231
2
What is Abnormal Psychology?
- Abnormal psychology is the study of behavior,
thoughts, and mood that are outside the bounds of
what is considered normal in a particular
culture - Howeverwhat is normal and what is abnormal?
3
Elements of Abnormality
- Distress
- Dysfunction
- Deviance
- Danger
4
Is this a mental disorder?
- A man cannot get through the day without crying
- A woman stays in bed until noon
- A woman believes that her daughters spirit is
escaping from her body - A man sets fire to his land
5
Why define mental illness?
- Nomenclature
- Consensus
- Communication
- Organization
- Research
- Treatment
6
What are the disadvantages of a classification
system?
- Loss of information
- Cultural factors
- Some disorders exist in some cultures and not in
other cultures - Manifestations of disorders can be different
between cultures
7
What are the disadvantages of a classification
system?
- Stigma
- Stereotyping
- Labeling
8
Being Sane in Insane Places
- Rosenhan, 1973
- Eight healthy participants complained of hearing
voices saying thud, hollow, and empty, but
did not feign any other symptoms - Admitted to inpatient hospital
- Once admitted, stopped hearing these voices
- Seven received diagnosis of Schizophrenia
- Stays ranged from 7 to 52 days, average of 19
days
9
Being Sane in Insane Places
- Family and friends could identify no significant
differences in the behavior of the
pseudo-patients - 35/118 other patients identified the
pseudo-patients as being sane - Youre not crazy. Youre a journalist or a
professor. Youre checking up on the hospital. - Otherwise normal behavior was interpreted by
hospital staff as symptoms of their illness - Writing in a journal was interpreted as a
compulsive behavior - Walking around the floor was interpreted as
anxiety
10
Key points
- When thinking about mental disorders, it is
important to remember - Knowing a persons diagnosis and understanding
that diagnosis is important, but it is not
sufficient to understanding the person - It is important to take a persons culture into
consideration when thinking about their symptoms - People are not defined by their diagnosis
- No one would talk about a cancer patient and say,
Hes cancerian but people will say Hes
schizophrenic when talking about someone
suffering from schizophrenia
11
Research Methods
12
Key points
- Prevalence Incidence
- Descriptive Research
- Case Studies
- Sampling
- Criterion vs. Comparison Groups
- Self-report vs. Observational Research
- Correlations
- Retrospective vs. Prospective Studies
- Experimental Research
13
Prevalence Incidence
- Prevalence
- Point Prevalence
- One-year Prevalence
- Lifetime Prevalence
- Incidence
14
Research Question
- What are risk factors for depression?
15
Descriptive Research
- Typically the first step in research
- Information gathering
- Does not necessarily test a hypothesis
- Case Studies, Sampling,
16
Case Studies (in abnormal psychology)
- A detailed account of one persons pathology
- Current symptoms and their duration
- Past symptoms and their duration
- Personal history
- Family history
- Impact of the symptoms on the persons life
- Medical problems
17
Case Studies
- Pros
- Cons
18
Research Question
- What are risk factors for depression?
- How would we answer this question using a case
study?
19
Sampling
- A group of people that are representative of a
specific population are studied - Information is not as rich in detail
- Results are more generalizable
- Random sampling accounts for potential biases
- However, just because the sample shares a set of
characteristics does not mean that those
characteristics distinguish people with that
disorder from people who do not have that disorder
20
Research Question
- What are risk factors for depression?
- How would we answer this question using sampling?
21
Criterion and Comparison Groups
- A group of people that meet some criterion are
compared to a group of people that are similar in
every way except that they dont meet that
criterion
22
Research Question
- What are risk factors for depression?
- How would we answer this question using criterion
and comparison groups?
23
Self-Report vs. Observational Research
- Self-Report
- Time-efficient and cost-efficient
- Only way to get information on internal motives
- However, people
- Intentionally lie
- Misinterpret the questions
- Want to present themselves in a positive light
24
Self-Report vs. Observational Research
- Observational Research
- Direct observation
- Behavior (eg. aggression, interpersonal skills)
- Physiology (eg. heart rate, stress hormones)
- Great way to get information about the way a
persons symptoms manifest themselves - Sometimes the only way to get information about
symptoms or a type of pathology - Cannot answer the question why?
25
Research Question
- What are risk factors for depression?
- How would we answer this question using
self-report measures? Observational research?
26
Correlations
- Measure two variables (eg. depression and GPA)
- Correlation a relationship between two
variables - Ranges from -1.0 to 1.0
- Weak correlation
- Strong correlation
- Positive correlation
- Negative correlation
27
Research Question
- What are risk factors for depression?
- How would we answer this question using a
correlational study?
28
Retrospective vs. Prospective Research
- Retrospective
- Study a group of people who already have a
disorder - Pros
- Cons
29
Retrospective vs. Prospective Research
- Prospective
- Identify a group of people who at a higher than
average risk of developing a disorder (but have
not developed it yet) and follow them
longitudinally - Pros
- Cons
30
Research Question
- What are risk factors for depression?
- How would we answer this question using
retrospective measures? Prospective research?
31
Experimental Research
- Only way to test causality
- Manipulate one variable while controlling all
other variables - Independent variable
- Dependent variable(s)
- If the dependent variable does in fact change
when the independent variable is manipulated, we
can assume that the cause of the change is the
manipulation of the independent variable
32
Experimental Research
- Placebo
- Single-blind study
- Double-blind study
- p-value
- p lt .05
33
Research Question
- What are risk factors for depression?
- How would we answer this question using an
experiment?
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