Psych 155b: Human Adjustment

& Maladjustment

Dr. Kimberley Clow

SSC 6421
kclow2@uwo.ca

http://instruct.uwo.ca/psychology/155b/
Read Your Course Outline!
 Can’t have antirequisites
 Psych 150, 251E, 253E, 257E, 350F/G
 Textbook
 Sue, Sue, & Sue (2003). Understanding
Abnormal Behaviour. 7th Edition
 TA – Jennie Ward
 Contact Jennie to go over exams
 jward9@uwo.ca
 Evaluation
 3 exams
 Test1 and Test2
 30% each; Non-Cumulative
 Final Exam
 40%; Cumulative
 4 Grading options
 Test1 30%; Test2 30%; Final 40%
 No Test1; Test2 30%; Final 70%
 Test1 30%; no Test2; Final 70%
 No Test1; no Test2; Final 100%
 Your grade is calculated in all 4 ways and I take
the option that works BEST for you
 Lecture Overheads
http://instruct.uwo.ca/psychology/155b/
 Lecture overheads are available on the class
website BEFORE class
 Print them out and bring them to class
 Spend class time TAKING NOTES on the details I
talk about that aren’t in the overheads
 The overheads are not a replacement for coming to
class
 Just using the overheads is not sufficient preparation for
exams
 They are tools to help you take BETTER notes; not a
replacement for note taking
Lecture Schedule
Date Topic Chapter
January 5 Introduction 1
January 12 Theoretical Approaches 2
January 19 Anxiety Disorders 5
January 26 Mood Disorders 11
February 2 Test 1
February 9 Schizophrenia 13
February 16 Personality Disorders 8
February 23 Reading Week N/A
March 1 Dissociative Disorders 6
March 8 Somatoform Disorders 6
March 15 Test 2
March 22 Eating Disorders 16
March 29 Mental Disorders & Aging 15
April 5 Law & Ethics 18
Exam Period Final Exam
Abnormal Psychology
 The scientific study of abnormal
behaviour, with the objective to
 Describe
 Explain
 Predict
 Control

 So what are abnormal behaviours?

The Movies…
Myths of Abnormal Behaviour
 The following are common myths about
those suffering from mental illness:
 Easily recognized as deviant
 Disorder due to inheritance
 Incurable
 Weak willed
 Never contribute to society
 Always dangerous
What is Abnormal Behaviour?
 Abnormal behaviour departs from
some norm and harms the affected
individual or others
 Conceptual Definitions
 Practical Definitions
 Surgeon General & DSM-IV Definitions
 Conceptual Definitions

 Statistical Deviation
 Deviations from Ideal
Mental Health
 Multicultural
Perspectives
 Cultural Universality
 Cultural Relativism
Practical Definitions

 The 4 ‘D’s
 Discomfort
 Deviance
 Dysfunction
 Danger
 Surgeon General & DSM-IV
 “A clinically significant behavioural or
psychological syndrome or pattern that
occurs in an individual and that is
associated with present distress (e.g., a
painful symptom) or disability (i.e.,
impairment in one or more important areas
of functioning) or with a significantly
increased risk of suffering death, pain,
disability, or an important loss of freedom”
 History
 Ancient Beliefs
 Demonology
 Exorcism
 Trephining

 Naturalistic Explanations
 Hippocrates
 Four Humours

 Return to the Supernatural

 Mass Madness
 Tarantism
 Witchcraft
Reforms
 Humanism
 People are sick; not possessed
 Need to be treated with dignity
 Reform Movements
 Moral Treatment
 Shift from prison to hospital
 Biological View
 Organic explanation for abnormal behaviour
 Drug revolution
Frequency of Mental Disorders
14
12
10
8
% 6
4
2
0

women
men
 Psychology Student Syndrome
 Many psych students find that the various
disorders apply to them
 Abnormal behaviour is not qualitatively
different from “normal” behaviour
 Many of us will exhibit similar symptoms
 Behaviours are only problematic when they
harm or interfere with your daily functioning
 Diagnosing friends and romantic partners may
lead to conflict
Mental Health Professions
 Who studies abnormal behaviour?
 Clinical Psychologist
 Ph.D. and internship
 Psychiatrist
 M.D. and internship
 School Psychologist
 M.A. or Ph.D.
 Social Worker
 M.S.W.
Who Do People Go See?
70
60
50
40
%
30
20
10
0
 Diversity & Multiculturalism
 Social Conditioning
 e.g., gender stereotypes
 Cultural Values
 Interpret complaints with culture in mind
 Sociopolitical Influences
 Different experiences affect what is
abnormal
 Bias in diagnosis
Diagnosing Abnormal Behaviour

 Multiaxial approach
I. Clinical disorders
II. Personality disorders
III. General medical conditions
IV. Psychosocial & environmental
problems
V. Level of current functioning
 An Example of Classification
 Mark
 Axis I: Clinical Disorder
 Alcohol Abuse
 Axis II: Personality Disorder
 Paranoid
 Axis III: General Medical Condition
 Cirrhosis
 Axis IV: Psychosocial & Environmental Problems
 Problems with primary support group (divorce)
 Occupational problems
 Axis V: Level of Current Functioning
 54 (moderate difficulty in social & occupation functioning)
Interrater Reliability
 Issues of Classification
 Helps
 To making treatment
decisions
 To communicate among
clinicians
 Research
 advancing knowledge of
disorders
 diagnosis as a first step to
understanding mechanisms
and developing treatments
 Hinders
 By stigmatizing patients
 Because different labels can
mean different things to
different people
 By biasing how we see the
patient
 By focusing on one point in
the patient’s development
 Patient may outgrow the
label
Assessment
 Observation
 Self-Report Inventories
 Biological Measures
 Psychophysiological Measures
 Neuroimaging Techniques
 Projective Tests
 Rorschach Ink Blots
 Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
Rorschach Ink Blots
Scoring
 Look at the following factors
 Location
 Determinants
 Popularity of response
 Content
 Form
 Generate hypotheses based on patterns of
responses, recurrent themes, and
interrelationships among scoring categories
Thematic Apperception Test - TAT
Interpretation
 Murray’s concepts
 Need
 Press
 Thema
 Basic Assumptions
 Person is identifying with the protagonist
in the story
 They are projecting their personality onto the
protagonist