UnderstandingAbnormality
History and Research Methods
Definition of Abnormal Behavior
Continuity hypothesis of
abnormal behavior
Psychological disorders
Criteria for Abnormal Behavior
Distress
Impairment
Dangerous
Deviant/Socially unacceptable
Eccentricity
Characteristics of Eccentric Behavior
Deviant
Odd
Whimsical
Distressful
Dysfunctional
Eccentric vs. Abnormal Behavior
Eccentricity
Famous Eccentrics
James Joyce
Emily Dickinson
Benjamin Franklin
Alexander Graham Bell
What Causes Abnormality?
Biological Causes
Psychological Causes
Sociocultural Causes
A Biopsychosocial Perspective
Diathesis Stress View
Defining Treatment
Treatment or Therapy
Key elements
sufferer
healer
series of contacts
Past Views and Treatments
Ancient Views and Treatments
(500,000 B.C.)
trephination
exorcism
Past Views and Treatments
Greek /Roman Treatment
(500 B.C. – 500 A.D.)
Hippocrates – 4 humors
yellow bile
black bile
blood
phlegm
Europe in the Middle Ages
(500 A.D. – 1350 A.D.)
Demonology
Mass madness
Europe in the Middle Ages
(500 A.D. – 1350 A.D.)
Tarantism
Lycanthropy
Exorcism
The Renaissance (1400-1700)
Johann Weyer
Gheel
Asylums
The Nineteenth Century
William Tuke
Phillipe Pinel
Moral treatment
Benjamin Rush
The Nineteenth Century
Dorothea Dix
The Nineteenth Century
Somatogenic perspective
Emil Kraeplin
Psychogenic perspective
Friedrich Mesmer
Current Trends
Severe Disturbances and Their
Treatment
Less Severe Disturbances and Their
Treatment
Prevention of Disorders
Current Trends
Influence of Insurance
Coverage
Today’s Perspective and
Professionals
Research Methods
in Abnormal Psychology
Scientific Method
1. Identify questions
2. Formulate an explanation
3. Carry out research
4. Communicate findings
Scientific Method
Theory
A formulation of t relationships and
principles that underlie observations
Hypothesis
A specific prediction about some
phenomenon
Operational Definition
Scientific Method
Hypothesis Testing
1. Cases studies
2. Correlational method
3. Survey method
4. Experimental method
Population and Samples
Sample
Population
Samples
Representative sample
Random sampling
The Case Study
Scientific Method
Correlational Method
• Studies the relationship between variables
• The variables are mathematically related
and expressed as correlation coefficients.
• A correlation coefficient is a number between
+1.00 and –1.00 that expresses the strength
and direction (positive or negative) of the
relationship between two variables.
Correlational Method
A positive correlation is a relationship
between variables in which one
variable increases as the other also
increases.
A negative correlation is a relationship
between two variables in which one
variable increases as the other decreases.
Correlational research may suggest
but does not show cause and effect.
The Survey Method
Experimental Method
An experiment is a scientific method that
seeks to confirm cause and effect
relationships by introducing independent
variables and observing their effects on
dependent variables.
A treatment is a condition received by
participants so that its effects may be
observed.
Variables
An independent variable is a
condition that is manipulated so that
its effects may be observed.
A dependent variable is the measured
results, or outcomes, in an experiment.
Experimental and Control Groups
Experimental participants partake in
the treatment, control groups do not.
All other conditions are held
constant for both groups.
A placebo is a bogus
treatment that has the
appearance of being
genuine.
Experimental Method
Blind Study
Well designed experiments control for the
effects of expectations (expectancy effects)
by creating conditions under which
participants are unaware of the treatment
and are called single blind studies.
Experimental Method
Double Blind Study
Researchers may have expectations and
may subtly influence outcomes (demand
characteristics)
Studies in which both participants and
experimenters are unaware of who has
obtained the treatment are called doubleblind studies.
Replicating and Generalizing
Findings
External validity
Replication