definition of abnormality?

?
Statistical infrequency, explanation?
Rare or statistically unlikely behaviours. Allows us to use psychometric testing to determine boundaries at which point behaviours become abnormal.
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Statistical infrequency, evaluation? Arbitrary boundaries
the cut off points have little meaning in terms of experience of symptoms and functioning. An IQ of 69 means you have Borderline mental retardation, whereas an IQ of 70 puts you within the average range of intelligence.
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Statistical infrequency, evaluation? Arbitrary boundaries 2
It’s unlikely that 1 IQ point will significantly change how able someone is to cope with the demands of work and education.
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Statistical infrequency, evaluation? Ignores desirability
High IQ (MENSA candidates) would equally be classified as abnormal, when high IQ is not something we consider requires treatment.
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Statistical infrequency, evaluation?Lacks construct validity
Depression is considered abnormal although it is not statistically infrequent. In the UK, approximately 1/5th of adults report having suffering with anxiety or depression
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Rosenhan & Seligman’s (1989) 7 criteria from failure to function adequately, suffering?
Most abnormal individuals (such as those suffering with anxiety disorders) report that they are suffering
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suffering evaluation?
Normal people can suffer at times in their lives and some abnormal individuals, such as those with personality disorders, treat others badly but do not appear to suffer themselves
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suffering evaluation, meaning?
meaning the definition lacks reliability, validity and usefulness, as it would mean some abnormal individuals are labelled normal and vice versa.
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Irrationality and incomprehensibility?
One of the characteristics of abnormal behaviour is that there appears to be no good reason why the person should choose to behave in that way
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Irrationality and incomprehensibility? evaluation
It may appear to us that there’s no good reason for the behaviour, but we may not have all the information, resulting in an invalid diagnosis, or an unreliable one if we have thorough case histories for some diagnoses and not others.
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Irrationality and incomprehensibility? evaluation 2
Fundamental attribution error is a type of bias affecting diagnosis using this criteria, where the observer is predisposed to attribute others’ behaviours to individual causes rather than situational ones.
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Irrationality and incomprehensibility? evaluation 2 what could this confound?
This could confound the diagnosis, reducing validity, or affect the reliability of diagnosis
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Observer discomfort?
Social behaviour is governed by a number of unspoken rules about behaviour, i.e. the way we maintain eye contact or personal space. When others break these rules we experience discomfort.
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observer discomfort evaluation?
This does not necessarily indicate abnormal behaviour, for instance different cultures may well have different social rules about behaviour, meaning the criteria will provide unreliable/invalid diagnoses across cultures.
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observer discomfort evaluation 2?
it may be unethical to diagnose based on this criteria, as it is highly ethnocentric and could result in labelling and stigmatisation of other ethnic and cultural groups.
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Violation of moral and ideal standards?
When moral standards are violated, this behaviour may be judged to be abnormal
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Violation of moral and ideal standards? evaluation
Different cultures and different times in history have different standards- behavior that was once seen as abnormal may, given time, become acceptable and vice versa.
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Violation of moral and ideal standards? evaluation 2
For example drink driving was once considered acceptable but is now seen as socially unacceptable whereas homosexuality has gone the other way. Until 1992 homosexuality was considered a psychological disorder by the World Health Organization (WHO)
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Violation of moral and ideal standards? evaluation 3
This means this criteria is affected by zeitgeist and ethnocentrism. It may be unethical to diagnose based on this standard because it will result in labelling and stigmatization of a certain ethnic/ cultural group
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Violation of moral and ideal standards? evaluation 4
It is also unreliable as what is diagnosed across cultures as abnormal may differ, and what is diagnosed across time as abnormal will differ.
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Card 2

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Statistical infrequency, evaluation? Arbitrary boundaries

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the cut off points have little meaning in terms of experience of symptoms and functioning. An IQ of 69 means you have Borderline mental retardation, whereas an IQ of 70 puts you within the average range of intelligence.

Card 3

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Statistical infrequency, evaluation? Arbitrary boundaries 2

Back

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Card 4

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Statistical infrequency, evaluation? Ignores desirability

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Card 5

Front

Statistical infrequency, evaluation?Lacks construct validity

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