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-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

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what is "abnormal"?

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-deviamce, distress, disability, dysfunction

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the four major definitions of abnormality

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-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...

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deviance

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-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

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cons with defining abnormality as deviance

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

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pros with defining abnormality as deviance

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-"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

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distress

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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

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cons with defining abnormality as distress

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-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

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pros with defining abnormality as distress

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-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

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disability

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-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?

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con with abnormality as disability

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

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pros with abnormality as disability

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-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

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dysfunction

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-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")

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cons with abnormality as dysfunction

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-dysfunction of inner systems does not always mean impairment

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is dysfunction definition any different from the impairment definition?

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

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pros with abnormality as dysfunction

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-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

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how do we understand the overall definition of abnormality

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-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

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four features of abnormality defined by the American Psychiatric Association

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

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how can studying psychopathology be interpreted?

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-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

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Rind, Tromvitch, & Baurserman (1998)

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-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

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gene vs. environment

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

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genetic modeling: the two major types of behavior genetic research

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-focused on effects of genes in general

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population genetics

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-focused on effects of specific genes

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molecular genetics

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-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?

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population behavior genetics: some questions we try to answer

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

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population behavior genetics: examples of people we compare the behavior of to their genetic relatedness

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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)

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population behavior genetics: three things commonly modeled between people

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-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

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heritability

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

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.47 heritability means...

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

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heritability: two terms that help us understand

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-linkage & association -seem similar, but different statistically

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molecular behavior genetics: two major approaches

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-correlation between people as function of similarity in genes

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molecular behavior genetics: linkage analysis

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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)

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molecular behavior genetics: association analysis

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-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

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goal of linkage analysis

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-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

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goal of association analysis

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-knowing which specific genes an individual has

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what does association analysis require?

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

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what does linkage analysis require?

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-polygenic & oligogenic

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two major behavioral genetic paradigms

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

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behavioral genetic paradigms: polygenic

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

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behavioral genetic paradigms: oligogenic

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

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major types of genetic and environmental effects

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

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gene-environment interaction

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-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)

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gene-environment interaction examples

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

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gene-environment correlation

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-active & passive

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two types of gene-environment correlation

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-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)

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active gene-environment correlation

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

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passive gene-environment correlation

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

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passive & active gene-environment correlations for: genetic influences on substance are correlated with conflictual family environment

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

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epigenetic effects

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

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major question regarding epigenetic effects

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-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

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examples of epigenetic effects

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

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sociocultural influences

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

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examples of sociocultural influences

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-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

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emic-etic distinction

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

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emic approaches

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-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

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example of emic approach

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

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etic approaches

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-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

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example of etic approach

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