Historical Context of Abnormal Psychology
and
Definitions of Abnormal Behavior
Chapter 1
Some Terms & Definitions
 Psychopathology
 Prevalence - # people with the disorder at a given
time
 Incidence - # new cases in a given time period (#
people who develop the disorder)
 Prognosis – the expected course and outcome of the
disorder
 Etiology – causes of the disorder, how & why it
developed
The Past: Abnormal Behavior and the
Supernatural Tradition
 Deviant behavior as a battle of “Good” vs. “Evil”
 Deviant behavior was believed to be caused by demonic
possession, witchcraft, sorcery
 Mass hysteria and the church
 Treatments included exorcism, snake pits, beatings, and crude
surgeries
 Movement of the moon and stars as a cause of deviant
behavior
 Paracelsus and lunacy
 Both “Outer Force” views were popular during the Middle Ages
 Few believed that abnormality was an illness on par with
physical disease
trephination
The Past: The Biological Tradition Comes
of Age
 Hippocrates & Galen- 4 humors (blood, black
bile,yellow bile, phlegm), melancholic, phlegmatic,
choleric, hysteric personalities
 General paresis (Syphilis) and the biological link
with madness




Associated with several unusual psychological and
behavioral symptoms
Pasteur discovered the cause – A bacterial microorganism
Led to penicillin as a successful treatment
Bolstered the view that mental illness = physical illness and
should be treated as such
 John Grey, MD., Psychiatrist, American Journal of
Insanity. “All mental illness due to physical causes”.
The Past: Consequences of the
Biological Tradition
 Mental Illness = Physical Illness
 The 1930s: Biological treatments were standard
practice

Insulin shock therapy, ECT, and brain surgery (i.e.,
lobotomy)
 By the 1950s several medications were established

Examples include neuroleptics (i.e., reserpine) and major
tranquilizers
Psychological Traditions
 Moral Therapy & Mental Hygiene Movement (1700s – Late 1800s)

Pinel, Tuke, Rush, and Dorothea Dix
 Psychoanalytic Theory (late 1800s – 1950s)

Mesmer, Charcot, Freud, psychodynamic theory, psychoanalysis
 Humanistic Theory (post-WWII)

Rogers, Maslow, self-actualization
 Behavioral Model (1920s – 1970s)

Watson, Pavlov, Skinner, behavior therapy
 Cognitive-behavioral Model (1960s – present)

Bandura, Beck, cognitive-behavioral therapy