Course Introduction, History, and Research Methods

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Course Introduction, History, and Research Methods

• PSY 436
• Instructor Emily E. Bullock, Ph.D.

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• What is Normal?
• What is Abnormal?

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What is Abnormal Psychology?

• Texts Definition
• Abnormal Psychology The branch of psychology
  that studies abnormal behavior and ways of
  helping people who are affected by psychological
  disorders (Nevid, Rathus, Green, 2006, p. 4)
• The Journal of Abnormal Psychology
• Societys Definition of Abnormal Behavior
• Medical Model of defining vs. the psychological
  or sociocultural models
• Psychiatrist vs. Psychologist

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Classification Criteria

• Unusualness
• Social Deviance
• Faulty Perceptions or Interpretations of Reality
• Significant Personal Distress
• Maladaptive or Self-Defeating Behavior
• Dangerousness
• Statistical Deviation
• Not Ideal Behavior
• Medical Illness

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Cultural Considerations

• Examples of cultural differences
• Implications for assessment
• Higher incidents of diagnosis among some groups

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History

• Demonological Model
• Hippocrates-break from Demonological
• Phlegm, black bile, excess blood, and yellow bile
• Medieval Times
• Witchcraft

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History

• Asylums
• Reform Movement and Moral Therapy
• Community Mental Health, deinstitutionalization,
  and the role of psychotropics

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Research

• Rosenhan's famous 1973 study "On Being Sane in
  Insane Places" (Science, 179, 250-257)
• CATIE Trial

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The Scientific Method

• Formulate a question
• Frame question into a hypothesis
• Test the hypothesis
• Draw conclusions about the hypothesis

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Ethics in Research

• IRB
• Informed Consent
• Confidentiality
• http//www.usm.edu/irb/

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Research Methods

• Correlation vs. Causation
• Naturalistic Observation (Rosenhan)
• Qualitative Studies
• Correlational method
• Longitudinal Studies
• Experimental Method
• Case Studies
• Heredity vs. Environment (Kinship Studies)