Abnormal Psychology- unit 1

-the term “abnormal” is often unclear since there are no predominating definitions… however, the issue is extremely important considering theoretical, scientifical, and societal(legally, socially) aspects

-deviamce, distress, disability, dysfunction

-abnormality defined as statistically difference or unusual
-generally, referring to interinddividual difference: difference from what is typical for people in general
-can refer to intraindividual difference: difference from what is typical for that individual
-bell curve…

-differing from what is normal can be desirable, if normal behavior is undesirable: social norms, which chane with time and culture
-defining what is “different enough” to be “abnormal” is arbitrary
defining “normal” comparison can be difficult: gender differences and depression

-helps to quantify extent of problems when they exist
-may prevent discrimination: sexual behavior

-“abnormal” means “distressed” since it is defined in terms of pain experiences by individual
-distress is assumed to be undesirable, and thus something to be treated

psychopathology is not always associated with distress: delusions of grandeur, narcissism
-distress is sometimes normal, healthy response: bereavement
-lack of distress is sometimes actually an indicator of psychopathology: serial homicide,
lack of empathy
-ego dystopia versus ego syntonic psychopathology

-distress usually associated with psychopathology
-in scientific studies, distress is often the strongest predictor and correlate of mental disorder
-framing abnormality in terms of individual’s own experience avoids problems with comparing behavior

-abnormal means “disabled” or “impaired”
-abnormality defined in terms of ability to perform various roles
-definition is focused on impact of psychopathology on other aspects of life
-behavior is considered abnormal when it impairs ones ability to achieve or perform tasks

-whether or not psychopathology is associated with impairment is sometimes unclear: narcissm and wor versus social impairment
-defining abnormality as impairment may simply change question of defining abnormality into one of defining impairment: what are areas of impairment? how impaired is impaired? is impairment due to individual or others?

-addresses some problems with distress definition: bereavement
-defines psychopathology in terms of consequences, clarifying importance of abnormal behavior

-abnormal means not operating as supposed to
-abnormality defined in terms of failure of psychological systems to operate coherently: neurotransmission
-definition is focused on underlying causes of behavior rather than behavior itself or the effects of behavior
-Wakefield defined abnormality as dysfunction of evolved psychological systems

-causes of behavior are usually unknown, so it is difficult to know when psychological systems are not functioning
-dysfunction itself does not necessarily imply lack of psychological health
-impairment is therefore often invoked together with dysfunction(“harmful dysfunction”)

-dysfunction of inner systems does not always mean impairment

-ideally, dysfunction definition clarifies abnormality by focusing on its causes
-integrates knowledge of a psychological system and its different forms into definition of abnormality

-any single definition has advantages as well as disadvantages
-definitions are not mutually exclusive: statistically abnormal distress
-definitions are often complementary, multiple definitions are often used together to define abnormality

-a clinically SIGNIFICANT…psychological pattern… that is associated with PRESENT DISTRESS…or DISABILITY… or with a significantly increased risk… Whatever its original cause, it must currently be considered a manifestation of… DYSFUNCTION in the individual

for example, specific environmental variables(e.g., abuse, drug exposure) in childhood predicts adult psychopathology

-conduced a meta-analysis showing no effect of childhood sexual abuse on adult psychopathology controling for background family environment
-huge controversy: 1) many articles and rebuttals 2) state, US congressional resolutions

-can’t study one without the other
-genetic research methods often best way of investigation impact of environment, and vice versa: 1) control for genetic or environmental effects 2) model relationships between genes and environment

-1) population genetics 2) molecular genetics
-boundary between the two can be fuzzy

-focused on effects of genes in general

-focused on effects of specific genes

-how does behavioral similarity between two people change as a function of genetic similarity?
-are individuals who are more genetically related more similar in their behavior?
-how does behavioral similarity between two people change as a function of environmental similarity?

-identical twins(100% similar genetically)
-fraternal twins(50%)
-siblings(50%)
-parents and children(50%)
-adopted children and their families(0%)

1) genes
2) shared environment: any environment two people share (e.g., family, neighborhood)
3) nonshared environment: any environment two people don’t share (e.g., accidents, spouses)

-percent of differences between individuals that can be attributed to genetic differences between them
-varies from 0 to 1
-refers to differences within a group, NOT TO SPECIFIC INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS
-can be thought of as related to how much of something is due to genes ON AVERAGE for a specific group

-47% of the difference between people can be explained by genetic differences

-nonshared environmentality & shared environmentality
-these two terms, not used as much, however

-linkage & association
-seem similar, but different statistically

-correlation between people as function of similarity in genes

differences between people who differ in specific genes
-how do people who have different versions of a gene differ?
-e.g., mean memory schores lower for individuals having certain version of APOE gene(Small, et al., 2004)

-calculate specific heritability, which is similar to heritability
-specific heritability refers to specific genetic region, rather than genes in general: e.g., 47% of the differences between people in depression can be explained by genetic differences on chromosome 6

-figure out what version of a gene (POLYMORPHISM) each person has
-compare e.g., means of people having one version to means of people having other version

-knowing which specific genes an individual has

-knowing how many genes that two people share, not exactly which genes they are

-polygenic & oligogenic

-many genes of smaller effect
-more common than oligogenic: doesn’t seem to be working, not sure why

-few genes of larger effect
-in some cases: focus on rare genes of large effect

-direct effects of genes
-direct effects of environment
-gene-environment interaction
-gene-environment correlation
-epigenetic effects

-effects of genes depend on environment, or vice-versa
-can be with regard to genes in general, or specific genes

-IQ in families from impoverished families: shared environmentality about .60 & heritability 0
-in wealthy families, almost exactly opposite(Turkheimer, et al., 2003)
-effect of environment on depression may depend on serotonin transporter gene (Caspi, et al., 2003)

-genes can affect environment indirectly
-peoples’ genes influence their behavior, which influences their environment

-active & passive

-involves direct influence of behavior on environments (e.g., choice of weekend activity, reactions of others toward your behavior)
-child genes>misconduct>negative parent relationship (transitive property)

-involves environment created by those who are genetically related to you (e.g., parents share your genes your genes and shape your childhood environment)

-active gene-environment correlation: genes cause substance abuse
-passive gene-environment correlation: genes cause both substance abuse in children and family conflict among parents

-effects due to how genes are expressed, rather than the genes themselves: e.g., whether gene is turned on or off(“gene switches”)

-are epigenetic effects really genetic or environmental?
-are there environmental effects that can be inherited biologically?

-effect of allele depends on parental guidance: allele increases psychopathology with low structure provided by parent or decreases psychopathology with lots of structure provided by parent
-polymorphism is associated with assertiveness, assertiveness leads to larger peer groups

-how do social systems and culture affect psychopathology?
-often directly or indirectly answers question of how psychopathology differs or is similar across cultures

-schizophrenia more common in urban areas
-individuals from East-Asian cultures more likely to express depression in terms of physical symptoms

-emic approach emphasizes understanding phenomena unqiue to a culture or from within that culture
-etic approach emphasizes understanding phenomena across cultures or from outside that culture

-“bottom-up” approach
-often focused on “translating” that culture “out” to other cultures

-Hwa-byung (“anger illness”; Korean)- feelings of insomnia, fatigue, panic, distress, and physical symptoms associated with suppressed anger
-not necessarily limited to Korea- just derived from within that culture

-“top-down” approach
-often focused on “translating” other cultures “into” a culture

-does the Rosenberg self-esteem scale work the same in Japan as in the U.S.?
-translate original questions from English into Japanese, study people’s responses
-assumes that “self-esteem” is a construct that is calid in U.S. and Japan