Models of Abnormality - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1 / 16
About This Presentation
Title:

Models of Abnormality

Description:

Biological (medical) model. Psychodynamic model. Behaviourist model ... Psychodynamic Approach ... The psychodynamic approach. Assumptions of the ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:105
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 17
Provided by: sandra158
Category:

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: Models of Abnormality


1
Models of Abnormality
2
  • Biological (medical) model
  • Psychodynamic model
  • Behaviourist model
  • Cognitive model

3
The biological (medical) approach Assumptions on
the causes of abnormality
  • Infection
  • Some mental illnesses have been linked to known
    micro-organisms (germs). Barr et al found an
    increased incidence of schizophrenia in mothers
    who had the flu when they were pregnant
  • Genetic factors
  • Individuals may inherit predispositions to
    certain illnesses, they are carried on in the
    genes from one generation to the next. Masterson
    Davis (1985) found relatives of schizophrenics
    were 18 times more likely to be diagnosed

4
The biological (medical) approach Assumptions of
the causes of abnormality
  • Biochemistry
  • Schizophrenia is associated with an excessive
    amount of dopamine, a chemical substance in the
    brain. However, we cannot be certain whether
    excesses are the cause or the effect of
    schizophrenia
  • Neuroanatomy
  • Neuroanatomy means the structure of the nervous
    system. In the case of schizophrenia, there is
    evidence from post-mortem studies that their
    brains are different from non-schizophrenic brains

5
The biological (medical) approach Implications
for treatment
  • If the causes of a disorder are biological, then
    it is possible to cure the patient by changing
    their biological processes, there are a number of
    treatments
  • Drug therapy
  • Drugs may be used to correct biochemical
    abnormalities, for example decreasing the
    dopamine levels in schizophrenia sufferers

6
The biological (medical) approach Implications
for treatment
  • Psychosurgery
  • Brain surgery is used in extremely rare
    conditions, where no other treatment seems
    appropriate. Sections of the brain are removed or
    lesions are made separating parts of the brain.
    Examples include lobotomies which typically make
    patients calmer

7
The Psychodynamic Approach (Early 1900s)
  • One of the main psychologists in this approach is
    Sigmund Freud
  • Freud believed that the mind is made up of three
    parts

8
Within the mind there are three aspects of your
personality that determine how you behave
Super-ego This is the part that contains your
morals / conscience (Its like an angel!)
Id This is the part of your personality that
demands immediate satisfaction of needs (Its like
a little devil!)
Ego The part that controls the fights between
the Id and the Super-ego
9
The psychodynamic approach Assumptions of the
causes of abnormality
  • Conflict between the id, ego and super-ego
  • Conflicts occur between the ids desire for
    immediate gratification and the desire of the
    super-ego to maintain moral standards and ideals.
    The ego is the mediator between the two
  • Fixation at the psychosexual stages due to
    conflict
  • There are a number of stages that individuals go
    through during development. Major conflicts or
    excessive gratification at any of the stages
    means that the child will become fixated. At
    times of great emotional stress a person may
    regress to an earlier stage of development or
    fixation (e.g. thumb sucking / comfort eating in
    times of distress)

10
The psychodynamic approach Assumptions of the
causes of abnormality
  • Defence mechanisms that help control conflict
  • The conflicts of the id and super-ego lead to
    anxiety. The ego protects itself against anxiety
    using defence mechanisms which include repression

11
The psychodynamic approach Implications for
treatment
  • If the causes of a disorder are unconscious, the
    implication of this model of treatment is to
    bring the repressed material into the conscious
    mind, this may be done through
  • Dream analysis
  • Freud believed that dreams are the royal road to
    the unconscious. There were two parts of dreams,
    the latent and the manifest content. The manifest
    content is the storyline and the latent content
    is the true meaning that is hidden beneath the
    symbols
  • Free association
  • This is where the patient lets their mind wander
    freely and says whatever comes into their head.
    This often uncovers repressed events and exposes
    unconscious desires
  • (Dont forget that Freud also used hypnosis and
    analysis of slips of the tongue)

12
The Behavioural Approach Assumptions of the
causes of abnormality
  • Human behaviour is learnt
  • mental disorders arise from maladaptive learning.
    Learning can be in the form of classical
    conditioning, operant conditioning or social
    learning
  • Classical conditioning
  • A stimulus which does not normally produce a
    response in an individual will come to do so if
    paired with a stimulus that does produce a
    response, for example Pavlovs dogs. This can
    help to explain how disorders such as phobias
    develop.

13
The Behavioural Approach Assumptions of the
causes of abnormality
  • Operant conditioning
  • Behaviours which are reinforced are likely to be
    repeated. For example, if behaviours such as
    depression are reinforced through increased
    attention, they may be repeated.
  • Observational learning and modelling
  • With social learning, individuals learn
    particular abnormal behaviours through observing
    others and then modelling (copying) behaviour.
    This may explain how eating disorders develop.

14
The Behavioural Approach Implications for
treatment
  • If the causes of a disorder are the result of
    maladaptive learning, then the behaviour can be
    unlearned using one of the following
    techniques
  • Systematic desensitisation (Classical
    conditioning)
  • The client is taught to relax and confront feared
    objects/situations in a calm and peaceful
    setting, the idea is that the object becomes
    associated with calmness
  • Token economy (Operant conditioning)
  • Institutionalised patients may be given tokens
    for behaving in appropriate ways (can be used to
    obtain privileges).

15
The Behavioural Approach Implications for
treatment
  • Aversion therapy (Classical conditioning)
  • Maladaptive behaviour is associated with
    something unpleasant (for example, given a
    sickness drug when lighting a cigarette).

16
The Cognitive Approach Assumptions of the causes
of abnormality
  • To understand behaviour we must understand
    thoughts includes how people see themselves and
    the world around them. Abnormal behaviour is
    caused by faulty and irrational thought processes
  • Examples of irrational thinking include
  • Magnification and minimisation people magnify
    failure and minimise achievement.
  • Overgeneralization a person makes a sweeping
    conclusion based on a single trivial event.
  • Beck used the term cognitive triad to refer to
    the three main forms of negative thinking
    negative views of (1) self (2) world and (3)
    future.
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com