CHYS 2P35 Lecture 1: Abnormal Behaviour PDF

CHYS 2P35 -- Overview to Understanding Abnormal Behaviour Lecture 1 notes Q. What is Abnormal Behaviour? - Atypical or uncommon - Socially unacceptable - Behaviour that deviates form the norm (E.g. ) - Distressing to the person who exhibits it or to the people...

CHYS 2P35 -- Overview to Understanding Abnormal Behaviour Lecture 1 notes Q. What is Abnormal Behaviour? - Atypical or uncommon - Socially unacceptable - Behaviour that deviates form the norm (E.g. ) - Distressing to the person who exhibits it or to the people around them - Interfering behaviour that limits the ability to function or fulfill life responsibilities - Its difficult a lot of the time to determine what is normal and what is abnormal... so why bother???? HYPOTHETICAL CASE Mental health within youth is recently receiving more attention... - 6 year old a Ava needs to do the following: - Line her stuffed animal up in a certain order Parents say this is a stage - Repetitive checking that she has her belongings IS IT REALLY?? - Frequent hand washing **Getting Started** - Parents often innate the referral for mental health treatment - How do we ensure the child\'s voice is heard - Important that consent/assent of children and youth is obtained. Assessment and treatment must be carefully explained Important features - Many children with psychological problems do not follow expected developmental trajectories - All professionals need a good background on what is developmentally appropriate - Knowledge of normative standards - Knowledge of culture differences - What factors influence change over time - E.g. social gains and academic functioning Across a spectrum - Most challenges and psychological problems fall on a spectrum  \*\*What is the goal of treatment for children and adolescence ? - Often people think the goal is to decrease symptoms.... - The reduction in distress (quality of life piece: feeling like you can handle the day) and furthering development (providing the individuals with the proper tools in their tool box to handle stressful situations) - We want patients to become healthier but also to feel better, happier and enjoy life **Criteria for a Psychological Disorder** CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE Definition: The criterion for a psychological disorder in which the behaviour being evaluated includes a measurable degree of impairment that the clinician can observe - Behaviour mut reflect a dysfunction in psychological, biological, or developmental process - Must be associated with significant distress - Behaviour is not considered 'abnormal' if it is socially different as a result of variables such as religion or culture - Reflects dysfunction with the individual **The Social Impact of Psychological Problems** - [Psychological disorders affect both the individual and those in their social circle ] - There is a stigma associated with psychological disorders - Stigma: A negative label that causes certain people to be regarded as different, defective, and set apart from mainstream members of society - The case of Jeremy on Pgs. 3-4 (textbook Chpt.1) Q. What are the Causes of Abnormal Behaviour? Biopsychosocial perspective: Biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors are seen as influencing the development of the individual  Table 1: Causes of Abnormal Behaviour [Humanitarian Approach ] **Moral treatment** Definition: belief that people could develop self-control over their behaviours if they had a quiet and restful environment Q. What were believed to be *setting events* to psychological disorders? - Stress, living conditions to name a few - This approach is reflected in positive psychology: which emphasizes the potential for growth and change throughout life. NOTE: - Be able to define and differentiate these different approaches as a precursor to history\*\*\* - Different living conditions - Thinking about the different setting of cruelty and how they can lead to different psychological problems **Deinstitutionalization Movement (MODULE 2 and NEURODIVERSITY)** OUT of institutions and INTO community settings Q. In the 1960s, hundreds of thousands of patients (clients) in mental hospitals moving into community settings but not without some challenges. What were some challenges? - Lack of people (staff, caregivers) and access of proper care due to lack of availability especially for patients in need of extensive care - Not having enough space: trying to figure where is the setting where the individual can best thrive while being able to administer the proper care and treatment Q. Today, there is a large emphasis on clients **choosing their own treatment modality** and having a voice (compassionate care). Predictor variables? - Clinicians advocating for the importance of Child Voice... Having the individual present in their meetings and being able to contribute to what is being worked on rather than the parent deciding for them [Scientific Approach] Q. How do we get to a Scientific Approach? Psychiatrists, psychologists and other professionals proposed a wide variety of models with Pavlov and Skinner moving to behavioral models: - **Sigmund Freud** - developed psychoanalysis - **Ivan Pavlov** - discovered classical/respondent conditioning, which became the basis for the behaviorist movement...some examples... - a lot of fears are associated with classical conditions: this later causes the fears responses of certain individuals about certain "things" (spiders, clowns, appointments, doctors) - **B. F. Skinner** - formulated a systematic approach to operant conditioning - The ABCs! - A -- the feeling - B -- the behavior (melt down) - C -- The consequences - Operant Conditioning/Applied Behavior Analysis - Positive reinforcement - Shaping behaviors - Teaching functional skills (brushing your teeth) [Psychoanalysis Approach ] Was most dominant within 1930-1950/60s... - Most children with intellectual and mental disorders were institutionalized - Disorders were traced back to early childhood - VIDEO: Autism Spectrum Disorder: Refrigerator Mothers- Child psychologist believes compares an autistic child facing difficulties with their parents the same as Nazis and the Jews 1950... - Practitioners used **operant conditioning** to solve a wide range of problems (e.g., stuttering, eliminating excessive vomiting; lessening behavioral problems; Martin and Pear, 2024). **Positive Reinforcement** CASE: Jason rarely did his homework. In an effort to encourage Jason\'s interest in his studies, his mother decided to give him a checkmark when he completed his homework and when he earned 5 checkmarks, he would receive predetermined rewards. Preferred items/rewards were determined before this mini program was put into place. After a few days, she noticed that Jason started doing his homework regularly and did not even have to be reminded. - Relation to operant conditioning...the process of strengthening a behavior by reinforcing it...(Martin and Pear, 2024) - Being able to promote a positive outcome to establish strive and motivation to achieve a goal \*Focus on the ABCs in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)! \*Contingency Management...when do you give rewards vs. not give rewards? **Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy (CBT)** - Popularity of Cognitive Behavior Therapy - Dr. Aaron Beck (cognitive model) - Dr. Albert Ellis (rationale-emotive therapy approach) COMPONENTS - Psychoeducation: educating a young child about symptoms and how to control them - CBT Skills Training/Exposure: Relaxation, breathing, counting, muscle relaxation, distracting yourself, physical exercise - Also relates to reframing mindsets/cognitive reconstructing - Homework: individual practices in their own environment to work on how to control and practice within the actual setting **Recent Movements** **Positive psychology** Emphasizes the potential for growth and change throughout life - The movement views psychological disorders as difficulties that inhibit the individual's ability to achieve highly subjective well-being and feelings of fulfillment - These models are leading to more evidence-based ways to understand causes of psychological disorders \*focus on prevention -developing a toolbox - Creating programs to help develop strategies and apply them before symptoms occur - Prevention in key \*focus on ability to change - Being able to equip individuals with the proper self talk language [Research Methods in Abnormal Psychology] **The essence of the SCIENTIFIC METHOD is objectivity:** - The process of testing ideas about the nature of psychological phenomena without bias before accepting these ideas as adequate explanations \*\*\*Knowledge translation and mobilization - Learning things here and working the information out in terms of awareness and advocacy - This process can be conducted with a variety of descriptive and experimental research designs (double blind, randomised) **Experimental Design** INDEPENDENT VARIABLE (IV) - The variable whose level is adjusted or controlled by the experimenter - *Example: the dosage of CBT (e.g., 10 sessions vs. 20 sessions)* DEPENDENT VARIABLE (DV) - The variable whose value is the outcome of the experimenter's manipulation of the independent variable - *Example: Frequency of depressive symptoms or outcome on standardized tests* *\*Another example related to my research...* **Randomized Control** - Research in which researchers randomly assign participants to conditions in which they receive different forms of intervention. - RCT is used as the foundation for evidence-based treatment, in which clients receive interventions based on the findings of controlled clinical studies - Double-blind trials -- the experimenter and the participants do not know who is in which group. Q. How about quasi-experimental (e.g., open trial) to look at differences between groups? What is this? Example... - Looking at pre and post measures of treatment