Week 1 and 2 AB Psych

📋 Course Outline

1. Defining Abnormal Behaviour
2. Mental Disorder Concepts
3. Rosenhan’s Diagnostic Study
4. Classifying Psychological Disorders
5. Fear and Anxiety Disorders
6. Vulnerability and Anxiety
7. Specific Anxiety Disorders

📖 1. Defining Abnormal Behaviour

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Abnormal behaviour : Behaviour that does not adhere to the societal standard of what is considered normal, although no universally accepted definition exists.

★ Must-know

• Norm violation classifies behaviour as abnormal when it is negatively evaluated as socially unacceptable or inconsistent with social expectations.

📌 Distress refers to the suffering caused by behaviour or mental experiences for the individual, whereas dysfunction refers to interference with effective everyday functioning.

📌 Statistical rarity, norm violation, distress and dysfunction must be considered together because none of the four criteria is necessary or sufficient on its own to identify abnormal behaviour.

Further detail

• Statistical rarity classifies behaviour according to how infrequently it occurs in society, but it can also include positive deviations.