What is abnormal?

Slide 1. Time for thought...

Do you believe there is such a thing as “abnormal behavior” -- or are you like Szasz and
Laing and believe that there is no such thing? How would you recognize abnormal
behavior?
2. Contributors to attributions of abnormal behavior
• Suffering
• Maladaptive
• Irrationality & incomprehensibibility
• Unpredictability & loss of control
• Vividness & unconventionality
• Observer discomfort
• Violation of moral & ideal standards
3. Abnormality is a relative concept
We select criteria to make this judgment.

• Criteria change with time and culture.

• Szasz (1961) calls these “problems in living” rather than “mental illness.”

• Society has invented concept to control or change people whose

unusual behavior threatens social order.

• Can a common behavior be abnormal?

• What’s the difference between someone who is abnormal and one who is
eccentric?
4. Intern’s syndrome
• A tendency to overdiagnose their own behavior as a problem while studying it
• “I do that!”
• How can you combat it?
• Talk to other students to identify what is normal.
• Ask others for feedback on how you’re doing
• Look at issues of frequency and numbers of symptoms. Often students make the mistake
of looking at a single symptom.
• Ask a professional (including me) for help
5. Time for thought...
We began looking at McMurphy from the viewpoint that he had a problem. What
evidence is there that he does not have a problem? What about Snow White?
6. Optimal living
• Spontaneous
• Element of risk-taking
• Willing to grow
• Psychologically meaningful relationships with others
• Interdependent rather than aloof or dependent
• Accepts responsibility for behavior and self
• Recognizes choices that are there
 • Reality oriented rather than defending against reality
7. What is optimal?
Euro-Americans:

• Autonomy

• Independence
Asians:

• Character

• Dependence

• Family
Latin Americans

• Respeto

• Familism

• Machismo
8. Time for thought...
People frequently jump to conclusions about the actions of others. Sometimes our
conclusions make sense, sometimes not. Psychologists try to avoid this problem by
making careful observations. Pay attention to the number of times that you automatically
make inferences today rather than thinking about the basis for these.
9. Observations and inferences
Observation

• Something we see, hear or touch.

• Everyone can agree on observation.

• Values are not added

Inference

• Values or interpretations are added to the observation

• Two reasonable people may disagree

• Convergence of facts pointing towards an inference increases our confidence

10. Typical parts of psychological report
• Demographic variables
• Referral source and reason
• Relevant historical information
• Brief physical description
• Cognitive functioning
 • Affect and mood.
• Behavior.
• Brief summary.
11. Demographic variables
Age, race, sex, marital status, etc. as appropriate.

Snow White is a 17-year-old female...

12. Referral source and reason
• Who referred the client?
• Why?
She presented for an hour-long intake interview following her stepmother's alleged attempts to murder her.
13. Brief physical description
• Describe client physically
• Especially include descriptors that are relevant to your later conclusions
Snow White is a 17-year-old female with very pale skin and very dark hair who appears younger than her stated
age....
At the time of the interview she was well-dressed in simple but well-made clothes consistent with her role as
princess of this kingdom. She was also well-groomed, with her hair pulled back in a simple ribbon, her clothes
newly pressed, and wearing light make-up.
14. Cognitive functioning
• Include descriptions of intelligence (and the observations for this inference), cognitive preoccupations,
hallucinations, and delusions.
• Include both strengths and weaknesses

Snow White appeared to be of average intelligence. She reported having completed seven years of home
schooling, but described her housekeeping skills and her ability to "communicate with" animals as real
strengths. Notable is that she reports keeping house for seven men after being thrown out of her home.
While abstract thinking skills seemed poor and she was only able to respond to the simplest proverbs, her
social judgment was strong and she was able to give appropriate responses to each social question.
15. Affect and mood
• What is mood like? (Happy, sad, calm, joyful, excited, nervous?)
• What behavioral observations support your conclusions?
• What is affect like? (broad, restricted, flat, appropriate, inappropriate)
• Defend anything other than normal affect.

Snow White's mood was calm during the interview, her affect restricted. She was restrained and quiet even
when playing checkers. She responded matter-of-factly to winning the game. She was also quiet and
"objective" in describing the attempts on her life. At no point did she cry or her voice crack. While this
might be seen as some avoidance symptoms associated with the trauma, both she and her father reported
that she has "always been that way." In fact, her father described her as "passive" and ”unflappable" as a
child.
16. Behavior
• Include information that supports and contradicts your conclusions.
• Include strengths and weaknesses

A good relationship with the interviewer was established easily and she responded in a nondefensive way
to questions with minimal hesitation and good eye contact throughout. The one exception to the latter was
when she was asked about her relationship with her parents. At this point in the interview eye contact was
broken, she stammered, then attempted to change the subject….
Snow White reported confusion as to why she was being interviewed and denied any negative impact
following the attempted murder. Her denial of symptoms was consistent with superficial behavioral
 observations. No indication of increased startle response, hypervigilance, fidgeting, or shaking were
present. She denied suicidal and homicidal ideation.
17. Brief summary
• Summarize your observations and inferences from these
• Relate these back to your referral question

While no problems are being observed or reported at this point in time, the events of the last several days
would be expected to produce post-traumatic symptoms or depression for most people. For this reason, it is
recommended that Snow White be monitored for the next several months.
18-19.
Snow White is a 17-year-old female with very pale skin and very dark hair who appears
younger than her stated age. She presented for an hour-long intake interview following
her stepmother's alleged attempts to murder her. Her father accompanied her to the
interview and was interviewed alone after she was seen.
At the time of the interview she was well-dressed in simple but well-made clothes
consistent with her role as princess of this kingdom. She was also well-groomed, with her
hair pulled back in a simple ribbon, her clothes newly pressed, and wearing light make-
up. A good relationship with the interviewer was established easily and she responded in
a nondefensive way to questions with minimal hesitation and good eye contact
throughout. The one exception to the latter was when she was asked about her
relationship with her parents. At this point in the interview eye contact was broken, she
stammered, then attempted to change the subject.
Snow White appeared to be of average intelligence. She reported having completed seven
years of home schooling, although described her housekeeping skills and her ability to
"communicate with" animals as real strengths. Notable is that she reports keeping house
for seven men following running away from home. While abstract thinking skills seemed
poor and she was only able to respond to the simplest proverbs, her social judgment was
strong and she was able to give appropriate responses to each social question.
Snow White reported confusion as to why she was being interviewed and denied any
negative impact following the attempted murder. Her denial of symptoms was consistent
with superficial behavioral observations. No indication of increased startle response,
hypervigilance, fidgeting, or shaking were present. She denied suicidal and homicidal
ideation.
Her father, probably a poor reporter as he indicated that he had little contact with his
daughter, leaving her care to his wife and the servants, stated that he had not noticed any
problems since the incident in question. No nightmares or social withdrawal was
reported. She also denied symptoms.
Snow White's mood was calm during the interview, her affect restricted. She was
restrained and quiet even when playing checkers. She responded matter-of-factly to
winning the game. She was also quiet and "objective" in describing the attempts on her
life. At no point did she cry or her voice crack. While this might be seen as some
avoidance symptoms associated with the trauma, both she and her father reported that she
has "always been that way." In fact, her father described her as "passive" and
”unflappable" as a child.
While no problems are being observed or reported at this point in time, the events of the
last several days would be expected to produce post-traumatic symptoms or depression
 for most people. For this reason, it is recommended that she be monitored for the next
several months.
20. A good report...
• Is well-written
• Is brief and succinct
• Describes a range of functioning, not just the problem area
• Describes potential problems accurately without making undocumented inferences
• Has conclusions that are supported by observations included throughout the report
• Recognizes contextual variables that may influence observations
• Is empathic and respectful
• Includes a brief summary at the end

Page by jms
URL= http://psy1.clarion.edu/jms/Abn1abnormal.html
Last modified September 9, 2001.

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