• Models / Paradigms: The perspectives used to explain events

• Used to only use the demonological model

The Biological Model

• Sees physical processes as key to human behavior

How Do Biological Theorists Explain Abnormal Behavior?

• View abnormal behavior as an illness brought about by malfunctioning parts of the organism

• Brain Anatomy

  • Some connections have been found between particular psychological disorders and problems in specific structures of the brain

  • ex: Huntington’s disease has been partly linked to a loss of cells in the basal ganglia and cortex

• Brain Chemistry

  • Psychological disorders can be related to problems in the transmission of messages from neuron to neuron

  • Abnormal activity by certain neurotransmitters is sometimes associated with mental disorders

    • Depression has been partly linked to low activity of neurotransmitters (Serotonin and Norepinephrine)

  • Mental disorders are sometimes related to abnormal chemical activity in the Endocrine System

    • Abnormal secretions of Cortisol have been tied to anxiety and mood disorders

• Brain Circuitry

  • Brain Circuit: A network of particular brain structures that work together, triggering each other into action to produce a distinct behavioral, cognitive, or emotional reaction

  • ex: The fear circuit often functions improperly in people suffering from anxiety disorders

Sources of Biological Abnormalities

• Genetics

  • Genes: Segments that control the characteristics and traits a person inherits

  • Several genes combine to help produce our actions and reactions, both functional and dysfunctional

• Evolution

  • Mutation: An abnormal form of the appropriate gene that emerges by accident

  • Many genes that contribute to abnormal functioning are the result of evolution

    • Genes that may have helped our ancestors can hurt people now because our environment has adapted

  • Controversial theory

Biological Treatments

• Drug therapy

  • Most common treatment

  • Psychotropic Medications: Drugs that primarily affect the brain and reduce many symptoms of mental dysfunction

  • Overused, doesn’t help everyone

  • Four major ones used

    • Anti-Anxiety meds / minor tranquilizers / Anxiolytics: Help reduce tension and anxiety

    • Antidepressant Drugs: Help improve the functioning of people with depression

    • Antibipolar Drugs / Mood Stabilizers: Help steady the moods of those with bipolar disorder

    • Antipsychotic Drugs: Help reduce the confusion, hallucinations, and delusions that accompany psychosis

      • Psychosis: Loss of contact with reality. found in schizophrenia and other disorders

• Brain Stimulation: Interventions that directly / indirectly stimulate the brain in order to bring about psychological improvement

  • Electroconvulsive Therapy: Oldest and most controversial approach. used primarily on severely depressed people

  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: An electromagnetic coil is placed on a person’s head, sending a current into certain areas of their brain

  • Vagus Nerve Stimulation: Pulse generator is implanted in a person’s neck to stimulate their vagus nerve, which delivers electrical signals to the brain

  • Deep Brain Stimulation: Electrodes are implanted in specific areas of the brain and connected to a pacemaker in their chest

• Psychosurgery: Brain surgery for mental disorders

  • Trephining: Prehistoric practice of chipping a hole in the skull to cure mental illness

  • Lobotomy: Surgeon cuts the connections between the brain’s frontal lobes and the lower regions of the brain

• Several of today’s biological treatments have undesirable effects

• This model shouldn’t be used alone

The Psychodynamic Model

• Looks at people’s unconscious internal processes and conflicts

• Deterministic Assumption: No symptom or behavior is accidental, it’s all determined by past experiences

How Did Freud Explain Normal and Abnormal Functioning?

• Theory of psychoanalysis explains both normal and abnormal psychological functioning

• Three dynamic central forces shape the personality and operate at the unconscious level

  • Id: The psychological force that produces instinctual needs, drives, and impulses

    • Pleasure Principle - The Id always seeks gratification

    • All Id instincts tend to be sexual

    • A person’s libido fuels the Id

  • Ego: The psychological force that employs reason

    • Reality Principle - We acquire through experience that it can be unacceptable to express our Id impulses outright

    • Guides us to know when we can and can’t express Id impulses

    • Develops ego defense mechanisms to control unacceptable Id impulses and avoid / reduce the anxiety they arouse

      • Repression: Prevents unacceptable impulses from ever reaching consciousness

      • Denial: Person refuses to acknowledge the source of anxiety

      • Projection: Person attributes their own unacceptable impulses to others

      • Rationalization: Person creates a socially acceptable reason for an action that reflects unacceptable motives

      • Displacement: Person displaces hostility away from a dangerous object and onto a safer substitute

      • Rntellectualization: Person represses emotional reactions in favor of an overly logical response

      • Regression

  • Superego: The psychological force that represents a person’s values and ideals

    • Morality Principle: A sense of right and wrong

    • Conscience development

  • If the Id, Ego, and Superego are in excessive conflict, the person’s behavior may show signs of dysfunction

• Developmental Stages

  • Each stage of development requires a person to make adjustments in their Id, Ego, and Superego

  • Fixation: A condition in which the Id, Ego, or Superego do not mature properly and are frozen at an early stage of development

How Do Other Psychodynamic Explanations Differ from Freud’s?

• Self-theorists: Emphasize the role of the self- our unified personality

  • Basic human motive: Strengthen the wholeness of the self

• Object Relations Theory: People are motivated mainly by a need to have relationships with other

  • Severe problems in parental relationships may lead to abnormal development

Psychodynamic Therapies

• Free Association: Patient describes any thought, feeling, or image that comes to mind

• Therapist interpretation

  • Resistance: An unconscious refusal to participate fully in therapy

  • Transference: The redirection toward the psychotherapist of feelings associated with important figures in a patient’s life

  • Dreams: Thought to be the “royal road to the unconscious”

    • Manifest Dream Content: Consciously remembered dream

    • Latent Dream Content: Dream’s symbolic meaning

• Catharsis: The reliving of past repressed feelings in order to settle internal conflicts and overcome problems

• Working through: Facing conflicts, reinterpreting feelings, and overcoming one’s problems

• Short-term Psychodynamic Therapies: Patients choose a single problem to work on with the therapist

• Relational Psychoanalytic Therapy: Therapists should also disclose things about themselves to establish more equal relationships with patients

The Cognitive-Behavioral Model

• Emphasizes behavior, the ways it is learned, and the thinking that underlies behavior

The Behavioral Dimension

• Classical Conditioning: Learning by temporal association

• Modeling: Observing and imitating others

• Operant Conditioning: Learning through consequences (reinforcers and punishments)

The Cognitive Dimension

• Ellis and Beck say we can best explain and treat abnormal functioning by focusing on cognitions

• Some people may have inaccurate and disturbing assumptions and attitudes

• Illogical thinking processes (ex: overgeneralizing)

The Cognitive-Behavioral Interplay

• Social Anxiety Disorder: A psychological disorder in which people fear social situations

  • Individuals regularly perform avoidance and safety behaviors

  • Treatment: Exposure Therapy: Fearful people are repeatedly exposed to the objects / situations they dread

The Humanistic-Existential Model

• Stresses the role of values and choices

Rogers’ Humanistic Theory and Therapy

• Humanists: Human beings are driven to fulfill their potential for goodness and growth

• Client-Centered Therapy: Clinicians try to help clients by conveying acceptance, accurate empathy, and genuineness. Developed by Carl Rogers

• Those who receive unconditional positive regard early in life are likely to develop unconditional self-regard

  • Those who don’t acquire conditions of worth (standards that tell them they are acceptable only when they conform to certain guidelines)

Gestalt Theory and Therapy

• Gestalt Therapy: Clinicians actively move clients toward self-recognition and self-acceptance. Developed by Fritz Perls

  • Role-playing

  • Self-discovery

Existential Theories and Therapy

• Existentialists: Human beings must have an accurate awareness of themselves and live meaningful lives in order to be psychologically well adjusted

• Many people become overwhelmed by the pressures of present-day society and overlook their freedom of choice to avoid responsibility for their decisions

  • Dominant emotions: anxiety: frustration, boredom, alienation, depression

• Existential Therapy: People are encouraged to accept responsibility for their lives and for their problems

The Sociocultural Model: Family-Social and Multicultural Perspectives

• Sociocultural model looks to social and cultural forces as the keys to human functioning

How Do Family-Social Theorists Explain Abnormal Functioning?

• Family-Social Perspective: Focuses on an individual’s family and social interactions

  • Social labels and roles

    • Labeling theory: People eventually adopt / accept the labels that society gives to them

    • Labels influence the way people view you

  • Social Networks

    • Ties were found between deficient social connections and psychological dysfunction

    • People’s online relationships tend to parallel their offline relationships

  • Family Structure and Communication

    • Family Systems Theory: The family is a system of interacting parts who interact with each other in consistent ways and follow rules unique to each family

    • The structure and communication patterns of some families force individual members to behave in a way that otherwise seems abnormal

      • Enmeshed Structure: Members are grossly overinvolved in each other

      • Disengagement: Rigid boundaries between members

Family-Social Treatments

• Group Therapy: A group of people with similar problems meet together with a therapist

  • Self-help Groups - same, but without the direct leadership of a clinician

• Family Therapy: Therapist meets with all members of a family, points out problem behaviors and interactions, and helps the whole family to change its ways

• Couple Therapy / Martial Therapy: Therapists work with two individuals in a long-term relationship

  • Cognitive-Behavioral Couple Therapy

  • Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy

• Community Treatment: A treatment approach that emphasizes community care

  • Community Day Programs

  • Residential Services

  • Key principle is prevention

    • Primary: Goal is to prevent psychological disorders altogether

    • Secondary: Identifying and treating psychological disorders in the early stages

    • Tertiary: Goal is to provide effective treatment as soon as it is needed so disorders don’t become long-term problems

How Do Multicultural Theorists Explain Abnormal Functioning?

• Multicultural Perspective: Emphasizes an individual’s culture and its shared beliefs, values, and history

  • Culture-sensitive Therapies: Approaches that are designed to help address the unique issues faced by members of cultural minority groups

  • Gender-sensitive Therapies: Approaches geared to the pressures of being a woman in western society

Integrating the Models: The Developmental Psychopathology Perspective

• Biopsychosocial theories: Explanations that attribute the cause of abnormality to an interaction of genetic, biological, emotional, behavioral, cognitive, social, and societal influences