sees behaviours that are statistically rare as being abnormal
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What is data collected about and why?
various behaviours and personal characteristics so that their distributions throughout the general population can be calculated and plotted
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What does normal distribution concern?
the idea that for any given behaviour or characteristic tere will be a spread of scores that forms a bell-shaped curve
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Where do most people's scores occur?
on or around the mean and a decreasing amount of scores occur on either side of the mean, further away from the norm
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What does this mean there will be?
a symmetrical distribution of scores
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What are scores that fall outside of normal distribution seen as?
being 2 standard deviation points away from the mean and are regarded as abnormal in this definition
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What does the statistical infrequency definition do nothing more than?
create the statistical criteria upon which behaviours and personal characteristics can be deemed to be normal or abnormal
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What doesnt it make?
judgements about quality of life or the nature of mental disorders
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How many strengths of this definition are there?
4
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What does the definition not make?
judgements about what is or is not abnormal
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What are there definite examples of?
situations where statistically determined criteria can be used to decide abnormality
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Why is the definition a very objective one?
it relies on real, unbiased data
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What happens once the data about behaviour or personal chanracteristic have been collected?
the information becomes a very non-subjective and value-free means of deciding who is abnormal and who is not
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How many limitations are there of the definition?
3
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What is a major weakness of the definition?
not all statistically infrequent behaviours are actually abnormal
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What are many statistically rare behaviours and characterstics instead of?
desirable rather than undesirable ones
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What is an example?
being highly intelligent is statistically rare, but would be regarded as desirable
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What happens even though the definition claims to be objective in not using value judgements but instead statistical data to determine what deviations in behaviour and characteristics are to be considered abnormal?
a judgement is made about where exactly to draw the line
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What doesnt the definition account for?
some mental disorders varying greatly between individuals in terms of severity
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What are not all abnormal behaviours?
statistically infrequent
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What are statistically frequent and 'normal' bheaviours actually?
abnormal
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What is an example?
about 10% of people are chronically depreswsed at some point in their lives, which would be so common as not to be seen as statistically rare and hence abnormal
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What is the practical application?
as it is based purely on objective data, with no subjective judgements made about what is and what is not abnormal, it gives mental health practitioners a clear indication of when an individual needs clinical help
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What can it therefore?
be used as objective evidence to decide when an individual needs treatment
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
What is data collected about and why?
Back
various behaviours and personal characteristics so that their distributions throughout the general population can be calculated and plotted
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