Psychology AOS 1 - Chapter 3

Typical behaviour

Usually/typically occurring, appropriate and expected behaviour.

Atypical behaviour

Not typical behaviour that noticeably differs from what's expected in a given situation.

Perspectives on atypical behaviour

Societal Norms
Cultural Perspectives
Statistical Rarity
Personal Distress
Maladaptivity

Social Norms

DEF: Widely held standards governing what people should and shouldn't do, especially in relation to others. E.g. Thanking others, smiling when happy.

PROS: Baseline to compare behaviours to. Relatively easy to identify atypicality.

CONS: Situation and context dependent. It is difficult but important to take external factors into account.

Cultural Perspectives

DEF: Society's influence on our thoughts. Awareness of beliefs, traditions, rules and attitude towards mental health. E.g. It's normal to eat snails in France

PROS: Different cultural contexts taken into account

CONS: Can result in biases towards a culture instead of individual evaluation. Multicultural society where norms intersect, makes it hard to highlight certain cultural influences.

Statistical Rarity

DEF: Behaviour outside range of statistical normality and is atypical enough to be significant.

PROS: Objective perspective gives greater accuracy.

CONS: Not all stat. rarities are bad, and they can be hard to apply to an abstract concept like behaviour.

Personal DIstress

DEF: Emotional response to events, fits norms = typical, if intense, long lasting or affects daily functioning = atypical.

PROS: Indicator when cultural, societal or statistical measures aren't applicable. Clear visual indication.

CONS: People can conceal their distress

Adaptive behaviour

Behaviour that enables us to adapt appropriately to our environment, manage our daily tasks, and fulfil our societal role.

MALadaptive behaviour

DEF: Detrimental, counter-productive or other wise interfering with our ability to adapt to environment and fulfil usual societal role.

PROS: Considers consequences of behaviour

CONS: What is considered maladaptive is subjective.

Defining normality criteria

• Freedom from disabling thoughts, feelings, and extreme emotional distress
• Can function in an organised and relatively effective way.
• Can cope with life's regular demands
• Absence of clear mental health disorder symptoms.

Abnormality

Deviation from what is considered normal, usual or healthy.

Neurotypicality

Someone whose cognitive functioning and neurological development are typical and conform with what most consider normal.

Neurodiversity

People whose neurological development and cognitive functioning are atypical and differ form the considered normal in the general population. It is a normal variation in brain development.

Intellectual Disability

Neurodevelopmental Disorder involving cognitive limitations in skills required for independent functioning.

Neurodivergence

Recognises that many neurological disorders are disabilities. Umbrella term for psychological disorders where neurological disturbance occurs due to nature and nurture. Each condition is a neurological disorder.

Neurological vs Neurodevelopmental disorders

Neurodevelopmental disorders present from early childhood and happen because of brain disruptions caused by a mix of environmental and/or genetic factors. E.g. ADHD

Neurological disorders usually occur due to nervous system damage. E.g. Alzheimer's

Autism

Neurodevelopmental disorder affecting how someone communicates and interacts with others and the world.

Autism characteristics

• Repetitive or restrictive behaviour and interests
• Behaviour patterns involving communication difficulties
• Atypical stimuli reaction

Autism Social Interaction

• Little social interest or interaction
• Doesn't demonstrate secure attachment
• Unlikely to engage in imaginative play

Autism Social Communication

• Delayed speech development
• Limited facial expressions and language skills
• May repeat or echo others' phrases
• Robotic tone

Autism behaviour patterns

• Need of routine
• Resist minor changes
• Repetitive behaviours that are maladaptive

ADHD

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder

What is ADHD?

A neurodevelopmental disorder with persistent inattention and/or hyperactive or impulsive behaviour patterns that are maladaptive. Involves at least a 6 months of maladaptive behaviour pattern.

ADHD characteristics

Inattention - struggles maintaining attention on 'dull' tasks or when not being frequently rewarded.

Hyperactivity - struggles remaining still, most evident in structured situations requiring self-control

Impulsivity - makes in the moment choices based on immediate stimuli. Acts before thinking. E.g. blurts answers, interrupts conversations.

Disability

Any impairment relating to ageing, illness, accident, etc, that makes undertaking daily activities significantly harder.

Learning disability

Disorder impairing learning and making it harder

Learning Disability vs Learning Difficulty

Learning Disability is long-term and lasting, difficulty can be short term, e.g. wearing glasses, and can be helped with support.

Dyslexia

Learning disability with significant reading, writing and spelling difficulties. Involves problems separating speech sounds in a word and learning how letters sound.

Dyslexia characteristics

• Difficulty distinguishing different sounds, learning letter names and sounds, reading single words, and recognising 'sight words' like it or and.
• Lack of reading accuracy + fluency
• Poor spelling
• Reading or writing letter the wrong way round

Types of dyslexia

Developmental and acquired (alexia)

Dyscalculia

Disability affecting ability to acquire maths skills and concepts

Dyscalculia characteristics

• Difficulties counting
• Difficulties learning basic maths facts and concepts
• Difficulties learning to manipulate numbers
• Difficulties learning to solve number problems and measuring quantities.

Dyspraxia

Disability impacting coordination and speech. Can be developmental or acquired (from brain injury or neurological condition like dementia)

Dyspraxia can affect…

Self care, domestic and school skills, recreation and sports, planning fine movements, acquiring new motor skills and learning motor skills in different ways.

Psychologist

Trained professional in the science of how we think, feel and act.
Does 6 years of study.
Works with those with conditions solvable by psychological methods, e.g. anxiety, learning disabilities.
Can diagnose but not prescribe.

Psychiatrist

Doctor with qualifications in diagnosing and treating mental illnesses
Does 11+ years of study.
Treats mental health disorders like severe depression and schizophrenia
Provides meds, medical care and brain stimulation therapies.
Referral needed.

Assessment and its 3 parts

Collecting and analysing information about someone to make a diagnosis so treatment can be provided. 3 parts are interviews, behavioural considerations and psychological tests.

Interviews

A clinical interview is with the patient to understand the issue. Questions asked about symptoms, thoughts, behaviour, history and experiences. May also interview close family if person is unavailable.

Behavioural considerations

Happen during interview, professional watches for cues with diagnostic significance, like how questions are answered or tone of speech.

Psychological Tests

Standardised tests for specific disorders. Includes personality, IQ, language, decision, problem solving, self-care and cognitive impairment tests. Other tests assess for neurodevelopmental disorders.

DSM

A system for diagnosing and classifying mental disorders based on observable symptoms. Has descriptions of different disorders': Characteristics, Progression, Age of onset, and distinguishing factors between other disorders.

Categorical vs Dimensional Classification

Categorical - used in DSM, places symptoms in categories, either has or has not, diagnosed by professional.
Dimensional - symptoms on continuum, looks at degree of impairment.

Comorbity

When someone has more than one disorder at a time

Labelling and its impacts

Labelling is where someone's classified based on a specific diagnostic criteria. It can create social stigma, or negative community attitudes, which can result in self-stigma when internalised.