Module 2: Models of Abnormal Psychology
Module 2 Outline
2.1. Uni- vs. Multi-Dimensional Models of Abnormality
2.2. The Biological Model
2.3. Psychological Perspectives
2.4. The Sociocultural Model
Module 2 Learning Objectives
• Differentiate uni- and multi-dimensional models of abnormality.
• Describe how the biological model explains mental illness.
• Describe how psychological perspectives explain mental illness.
• Describe how the sociocultural model explains mental illness.
2.1 Uni- vs. Multi-Dimensional Models of Abnormality
Section 2.1 Learning Objectives
• Define the uni-dimensional model.
• Explain the need for a multi-dimensional model of abnormality.
• Define model.
• List and describe the models of abnormality.
Section 2.1 Key Terms
Biological model: Includes genetics, chemical imbalances in the brain, the functioning of the nervous
system, etc. in explaining the cause of a mental disorder.
Model: A representation or imitation of an object.
Multi-dimensional model of abnormality: Explains the cause of a mental disorder using multiple
factors.
Psychological model: Includes learning, personality, stress, cognition, self-efficacy, and early life
experiences in explaining the cause of a mental disorder.
Sociocultural model: Includes factors such as one’s gender, religious orientation, race, ethnicity, and
culture in explaining the cause of a mental disorder.
Uni-dimensional model of abnormality: Explains the cause of a mental disorder using one factor.
Section 2.1 Key Takeaways
• The uni-dimensional model proposes a single factor as the cause of psychopathology while the
multi-dimensional model integrates multiple causes of psychopathology and affirms that each
cause comes to affect other causes over time.
• There is no individual model that completely explains human behavior and so each model
contributes in its own way.
Section 2.1 Review Questions
1. What is the problem with a uni-dimensional model of psychopathology?
2. Discuss the concept of a model and identify those important to understanding psychopathology.
2.2 The Biological Model
Section 2.2 Learning Objectives
• Describe how communication in the nervous system occurs.
• List the parts of the nervous system.
• Describe the structure of the neuron and all key parts.
• Outline how neural transmission occurs.
• Identify and define important neurotransmitters.
• List the major structures of the brain.
• Clarify how specific areas of the brain are involved in mental illness.
• Describe the role of genes in mental illness.
• Describe the role of hormonal imbalances in mental illness.
• Describe the role of viral infections in mental illness.
• Describe commonly used treatments for mental illness.
• Evaluate the usefulness of the biological model.
Section 2.1 Key Terms
Absolute refractory period: After the neuron fires, it will not fire again for a certain period of time,
regardless of how much stimulation it receives.
Action potential: Refers to when a neuron is stimulated and becomes depolarized.
Adrenal glands: Part of the endocrine system; located on top of the kidneys, they release cortisol to
help the body deal with stress.
All-or-nothing principle: Neurons will not fire unless the action potential is met (i.e., it reaches -
55mv).
Amygdala: Part of the brain responsible for evaluating sensory information and quickly determining
its emotional importance.
Anti-anxiety mediations: Used to treat anxiety.
Antidepressant medications: Used to treat depression.
Antipsychotic medications: Used to treat psychosis.
Autonomic nervous system: Regulates the functioning of blood vessels, glands, and internal organs,
such as the bladder, stomach, and heart.
Axon: Part of a neuron; it sends signals/information to neighboring neurons.
Axon terminal: Part of a neuron; the end of the axon where the electrical impulse becomes a
chemical message and passes to an adjacent neuron.
Basal ganglia: A group of structures found deep within the cerebral hemispheres; responsible
primarily for motor control.
Central nervous system (CNS): The control center for the nervous system, which receives, processes,
interprets, and stores incoming sensory information; includes the brain and spinal cord.
Cerebrum: Part of the brain responsible for the integration of complex sensory and neural functions
and the initiation and coordination of voluntary activity in the body. Comprised of four lobes: frontal
(motor cortex), parietal (somatosenory cortex), occipital (visual cortex), and temporal (memory,
perception, and memory).
Cerebellum: Part of the brain involved in our sense of balance and for coordinating the body’s
muscles so that movement is smooth and precise. Involved in the learning of certain kinds of simple
responses and acquired reflexes.
Dendrites: Part of a neuron; receive information from neighboring neurons and resemble the
branches of trees.
DNA: The acronym for deoxyribonucleic acid; the carrier of genetic information.
Dopamine: A neurotransmitter that controls voluntary movements and is associated with the
reward mechanism in the brain.
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT): A procedure performed under general anesthesia, in which small
electric currents are passed through the brain, intentionally triggering a brief seizure; a last-resort
treatment when other standard treatments have failed; effective for severe depression.
Endorphins: Neurotransmitters involved in reducing pain and making us feel calm and happy.
Enzymatic degradation: When enzymes destroy excess neurotransmitters in the synaptic space.
GABA: A neurotransmitter that blocks the signals of excitatory neurotransmitters responsible for
anxiety and panic.
Glial cells: Support cells in the nervous system.
Glutamate: A neurotransmitter associated with learning and memory.
Hippocampus: Part of the brain; our ‘gateway’ to memory and allows us to form spatial memories so
that we can accurately navigate through our environment; helps us to form new memories about
facts and events.
Hypothalamus: Part of the brain involved in drives associated with the survival of both the individual
and the species. It regulates temperature by triggering sweating or shivering and controls the
complex operations of the autonomic nervous system.
Ions: Charged particles found both inside and outside the neuron.
Medulla: Part of the brain that regulates breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure.
Mood stabilizer medications: Used to treat bipolar disorder and, at times, depression,
schizoaffective disorder, and disorders of impulse control.
Myelin sheath: Part of a neuron; a white, fatty covering that (1) provides insulation so that signals
from adjacent neurons do not affect one another and (2) increases the speed at which signals are
transmitted.
Nerves: A group of axons bundled together like wires in an electrical cable.
Nucleus: The control center of a cell, including neurons.
Neuron: The fundamental unit of the nervous system.
Neurotransmitter: The actual code passes from one neuron to another in a chemical form.
Norepinephrine: A neurotransmitter that increases the heart rate and blood pressure and regulates
mood.
Parasympathetic nervous system: Calms the body after the sympathetic nervous system has been
engaged and the threat avoided or defeated.
Peripheral nervous system: All neurons outside the brain and spinal cord.
Pineal gland: Part of the endocrine system; helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle.
Pituitary gland: The ‘master gland’ that regulates other endocrine glands; it influences blood
pressure, thirst, contractions of the uterus during childbirth, milk production, sexual behavior and
interest, body growth, and the amount of water in the body’s cells, as well as other functions.
Pons: Part of the brain that acts as a bridge connecting the cerebellum and medulla and helps to
transfer messages between different parts of the brain and spinal cord.
Psychosurgery: A field of surgery consisting of stereotactic operations on the brain to alter abnormal
physiology by severing certain connections between the frontal lobe and the rest of the brain,
including the cortex, the nuclei or other brain pathways; used infrequently.
Receptor sites: Each type of neurotransmitter has its own receptor sites, where it attaches on the
adjoining neuron.
Relative refractory period: A short time after firing, the neuron can fire again, but needs greater
than normal levels of stimulation to do so.
Repolarize: Once the action potential passes from one segment of the axon to the next, the Na
channels close and potassium (K) channels open. K+ has a positive charge, so the neuron becomes
negative again on the inside and positive on the outside.
Resting potential: Also referred to as ‘polarized’; when the neuron has a negative charge inside and
a positive charge outside.
Reticular formation: Part of the brain responsible for alertness and attention.
Reuptake: The process of the presynaptic neuron taking up excess neurotransmitters in the synaptic
space for future use.
Serotonin: A neurotransmitter that regulates pain, sleep cycle, and digestion; leads to a stable
mood, so low levels of serotonin lead to depression.
Soma: The cell body of a neuron.
Somatic nervous system: Allows for voluntary movement by controlling the skeletal muscles and
carries sensory information to the CNS.
Stimulant medications: Increase one’s alertness and attention and are frequently used to treat
ADHD.
Substantia nigra: Structure located in the midbrain that plays an important role in reward and
movement.
Sympathetic nervous system: Provides the strength needed to fight back or flee (fight-or-flight
instinct); part of the autonomic nervous system.
Synapse: Space between the dendrite of one neuron and the axon of an adjacent neuron; this is
where neurotransmitters pass from one neuron to the next; also referred to as the synaptic space,
gap, or cleft.
Thalamus: Part of the brain; the major sensory relay center for all senses except smell.
Threshold of excitation: If it receives sufficient stimulation, the polarity inside the neuron rises from
-70 mV to -55mV; at this point, the neuron will ‘fire’ or send an electrical impulse down the length of
the axon.
Thyroid gland: Part of the endocrine system; regulates the body’s energy levels by controlling
metabolism and the basal metabolic rate (BMR).
Section 2.2 Key Takeaways
• Proponents of the biological model view mental illness as being a result of a malfunction in the
body to include issues with brain anatomy or chemistry.
• Neurotransmitter imbalances and problems with brain structures/areas can result in mental
disorders.
• Many disorders have genetic roots, are a result of hormonal imbalances, or caused by viral
infections such as strep.
• Treatments related to the biological model include drugs, ECT, and psychosurgery.
Section 2.2 Review Questions
1. Briefly outline how communication in the nervous system occurs.
2. What happens at the synapse during neural transmission? Why is this important to a discussion
of psychopathology?
3. How is the anatomy of the brain important to a discussion of psychopathology?
4. What is the effect of genes, hormones, and viruses on the development of mental disorders?
5. What treatments are available to clinicians courtesy of the biological model of
psychopathology?
6. What are some issues facing the biological model?
2.3 Psychological Perspectives
Section 2.3 Learning Objectives
• Describe psychodynamic theory.
• Outline the structure of personality and how it develops over time.
• Describe ways to deal with anxiety.
• Clarify what psychodynamic techniques are used. Evaluate the usefulness of psychodynamic
theory.
• Describe learning.
• Outline respondent conditioning and the work of Pavlov and Watson.
• Outline operant conditioning and the work of Thorndike and Skinner.
• Outline observational learning/social-learning theory and the work of Bandura.
• Evaluate the usefulness of the behavioral model.
• Define the cognitive model.
• Exemplify the effect of schemas on creating abnormal behavior.
• Exemplify the effect of attributions on creating abnormal behavior.
• Exemplify the effect of maladaptive cognitions on creating abnormal behavior.
• List and describe cognitive therapies.
• Evaluate the usefulness of the cognitive model. Describe the humanistic perspective.
• Describe the existential perspective.
• Evaluate the usefulness of humanistic and existential perspectives.
Section 2.3 Key Terms
Acceptance techniques: In cognitive behavioral therapy, used to help a client reduce his or her
worry and anxiety.
Anal stage: In Freud’s stages of psychosexual stages of personality development; the libido is
focused on the anus as toilet training occurs (ages 2–3).
Attribution theory: The idea that people are motivated to explain their own and other people’s
behavior by attributing causes of that behavior to personal reasons or dispositional factors that are
in the person themselves or linked to some trait they have; or situational factors that are linked to
something outside the person.
Behavioral model: Explains maladaptive behavior in terms of learning gone awry. For example, a
child’s temper tantrums were reinforced by a parent giving in to what the child wants.
Behavior modification: The process of changing behavior.
Cognitive model: States that people can create their own problems by how they come to interpret
events experienced in the world around them.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT): Focuses on helping people learn how to identify and change
destructive or disturbing thought patterns that have a negative influence on behavior and emotions.
Cognitive coping skills training: A strategy used in cognitive behavioral therapy; involves teaching
social skills, communication, assertiveness through direct instruction, role playing, and modeling.
Cognitive restructuring: Also called rational restructuring; maladaptive cognitions are replaced with
more adaptive ones.
Conditioning: A type of associative learning where two separate events become connected.
Conscious: One of Freud’s three levels of consciousness; includes everything within our conscious
awareness.
Counterconditioning: The unlearning of previously learned behavior.
Denial: One of Freud’s ego-defense mechanisms; when something about our lives is so bad that all
we can do is deny that it exists or deny that it is as bad as it is to avoid feeling overwhelmed.
Displacement: One of Freud’s ego-defense mechanisms; when we satisfy an impulse with a different
object because focusing on the primary object may get us in trouble.
Dream analysis: Used by Freud to understand a person’s innermost wishes; involves examining the
manifest and latent content of dreams.
Ego: According to Freud, one of the three parts of our personality; attempts to mediate the desires
of the id against the demands of reality, and eventually, the moral limitations or guidelines of the
superego.
Ego-defense mechanisms: Protect us from emotional distress but are considered maladaptive if they
are misused and become our primary way of dealing with stress.
Enactive learning: Learning by doing.
Eros: According to Freud, the drive of life, love, creativity, and sexuality, self-satisfaction, and
species preservation.
Existential perspective: Stresses the need for people to re-create themselves continually and be self-
aware, acknowledges that anxiety is a normal part of life, focuses on free will and self-
determination, emphasizes that each person has a unique identity known only through relationships
and the search for meaning, and finally, that we develop to our maximum potential.
Extinction: If a learned behavior is not reinforced, it will eventually stop.
Fixed interval schedule (FI): A type of reinforcement schedule; reinforcing after a set length of time.
Fixed ratio schedule (FR): A type of reinforcement schedule; reinforcing after the subject has
displayed the desired behavior a set number of times.
Flooding: In the process of unlearning fears (e.g., phobias), exposing the person to the maximum
level of the stimulus, and as nothing aversive occurs, the link between the conditioned stimulus (CS)
and unconditioned stimulus (UCS) producing the conditioned response (CR) of fear should break,
leaving the person unafraid.
Free association: A psychoanalytic technique developed by Freud; involves the patient describing
whatever comes to mind during the session.
Fundamental attribution error: When we automatically assume a dispositional reason for another
person’s actions and ignore situational factors.
Genital stage: In Freud’s stages of psychosexual stages of personality development; sexual impulses
reawaken and unfulfilled desires from infancy and childhood can be satisfied during lovemaking
(begins at adolescence).
Habituation: When we simply stop responding to repetitive and harmless stimuli in our
environment, such as a fan running in your laptop as you work on a paper.
Humanistic perspective: Emerged in the 1960s and 1970s as an alternative viewpoint to the largely
deterministic view of personality espoused by psychoanalysis and the view of humans as machines
advocated by behaviorism. Key features of the perspective include a belief in human perfectibility,
personal fulfillment, valuing self-disclosure, placing feelings over intellect, an emphasis on the
present, and hedonism.
Id: According to Freud, one of the three parts of our personality; the impulsive part that expresses
our sexual and aggressive instincts.
Identification: One of Freud’s ego-defense mechanisms; when we find someone who has found a
socially acceptable way to satisfy their unconscious wishes and desires, and we model that behavior.
Intellectualization: One of Freud’s ego-defense mechanisms; when we avoid emotion by focusing on
the intellectual aspects of a situation, such as ignoring the sadness we are feeling after the death of
our mother by focusing on planning the funeral.
Latency stage: In Freud’s stages of psychosexual stages of personality development; children lose
interest in sexual behavior, so boys play with boys and girls with girls. Neither sex pays much
attention to the opposite sex (ages 6–12).
Latent content: In dream analysis, the hidden or symbolic meaning in dreams.
Learning: Any relatively permanent change in behavior due to experience and practice.
Libido: According to Freud, the psychic energy that drives a person to pleasurable thoughts and
behaviors.
Maladaptive cognitions: Irrational thought patterns.
Manifest content: In dream analysis, the actual content of the dream.
Modeling: In observational learning, when the model demonstrates the desired behavior.
Negative punishment: Removal of a positive stimuli when an undesired behavior is displayed (e.g., a
child being restricted from playing video games due to bad grades in school).
Negative reinforcement: Removing a negative stimuli (e.g., a buzzing sound or electric shock) when
the desired behavior is displayed; for example, some cars are equipped with a buzzer (negative
stimuli) that will not stop until you put on your seatbelt (desired behavior).
Observational/social-learning theory: When we learn by observing the world around us, as well as
by observing the behavior of others.
Operant conditioning: Takes a naturally occurring stimulus and response (i.e., salivating at the sight
of food) and associates the response with a new stimulus (i.e., salivating when a bell is rung) by
pairing the original stimulus (i.e., food) with a new stimulus (i.e., the ringing of a bell) until the new
stimulus alone elicits the response (i.e., salivating).
Oral stage: In Freud’s stages of psychosexual stages of personality development; the libido is
focused on the mouth (birth to 24 months).
Perception: How we make meaning out of raw sensory data (i.e., obtained via sight, hearing, touch,
taste, or smell).
Phallic stage: In Freud’s stages of psychosexual stages of personality development; the libido is
focused on the genitals, and children develop an attachment to the parent of the opposite sex and
are jealous of the same-sex parent (ages 3 to 5–6).
Positive reinforcement: Applying a positive stimuli (e.g., food) when the desired behavior is
displayed.
Postconditioning: After learning has occurred, establishes a new and not naturally occurring
relationship of a conditioned stimulus (CS; previously the NS) and conditioned response (CR; the
same response).
Preconditioning: In classical conditioning, it means that some learning is already present.
Preconscious: One of Freud’s three levels of consciousness; includes all of our sensations, thoughts,
memories, and feelings that can be brought into conscious awareness.
Projection: One of Freud’s ego-defense mechanisms; when we attribute our own threatening
desires or unacceptable motives to others.
Punishment: Applying a negative stimuli or removing a positive stimuli when an undesired behavior
is displayed, which decreases the likelihood of the behavior occurring again.
Psychodynamic theory: Developed out of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory; early childhood
experiences are highly influential in shaping our adult personalities; emphasizes internal conflicts,
motives, and unconscious desires.
Positive punishment: Applying a negative stimuli when an undesired behavior is displayed, which
decreases the likelihood that the behavior will be displayed again in the future.
Positive reinforcement: Applying a positive stimuli (e.g., food) when the desired behavior is
displayed, which increases the likelihood that the behavior will be displayed again in the future.
Rationalization: One of Freud’s ego-defense mechanisms; when we offer well-thought-out reasons
for why we did what we did, but these are not the real reasons, as they are a way to reduce stress or
save face.
Reaction formation: One of Freud’s ego-defense mechanisms; when an impulse is repressed and
then expressed by its opposite.
Reinforcement: Applying a positive stimuli (e.g., food) or removing a negative stimuli (e.g., a buzzing
sound or electric shock) when the desired behavior is displayed, which strengthens the likelihood of
the behavior occurring again in the future.
Reinforcement schedule: When and how often we will reinforce the desired behavior.
Regression: One of Freud’s ego-defense mechanisms; when we regress from a mature behavior to
one that is infantile in the face of overwhelming stress.
Repression: One of Freud’s ego-defense mechanisms; when unacceptable ideas, wishes, desires, or
memories are blocked from consciousness, such as forgetting a horrific car accident that you
caused.
Respondent conditioning: Also referred to as classical or Pavlovian conditioning; occurs when we
link a previously neutral stimulus with a stimulus that is unlearned or inborn, called an
unconditioned stimulus.
Respondent discrimination: When only a single conditioned stimulus or a narrow range of
conditioned stimuli elicit the conditioned response (e.g., teaching Pavlov’s dogs to respond to a
specific bell and ignore the whistle).
Respondent extinction: When the conditioned stimulus no longer paired with the unconditioned
stimulus, so the conditioned response is not displayed.
Respondent generalization: When many similar conditioned stimuli or a broad range of conditioned
stimuli elicit the same conditioned response. In the example of Pavlov’s dogs and salivation,
respondent generalization would occur if the dogs started salivating after hearing a whistle (because
it sounds similar to a bell ringing).
Schemas: A cognitive short-cut; a set of beliefs and expectations about a group of people, presumed
to apply to all members of the group, and based on experience.
Self-serving bias: When we attribute our success to our own efforts (dispositional) and our failures
to external causes (situational).
Sensation: Information obtained via the five senses (i.e., sight, hearing, touch, taste, or smell).
Sensitization: When our reactions are increased due to a strong stimulus, such as an individual who
experienced a mugging and now panics when someone walks up behind him/her on the street.
Social cognition: The process of collecting and assessing information about other people.
Spontaneous recovery: When the conditioned stimulus elicits the conditioned response after
extinction has occurred.
Sublimation: One of Freud’s ego-defense mechanisms; when we find a socially acceptable way to
fulfill a desire, such as spending a lot of time working out at the gym while your spouse is away on a
business trip.
Superego: According to Freud, one of the three parts of our personality; represents society’s
expectations, moral standards, and rules, and represents our conscience.
Thanatos: According to Freud, the death instinct.
Transference: In psychoanalytic therapy, the process through which patients transfer attitudes
he/she held about a parent or other authority figure during childhood to the therapist.
Variable interval schedule (VI): A type of reinforcement schedule; varying the length of time before
reinforcing.
Variable ratio schedule (VR): A type of reinforcement schedule; varying the number of times the
desired behavior must be displayed before reinforcing.
Unconscious: One of Freud’s three levels of consciousness; thoughts and desires that are completely
outside of our conscious awareness.
Section 2.3 Key Takeaways
• According to Freud, consciousness had three levels (consciousness, preconscious, and the
unconscious), personality had three parts (the id, ego, and superego), personality developed
over five stages (oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital), there are ten defense mechanisms to
protect the ego such as repression and sublimation, and finally three assessment techniques
(free association, transference, and dream analysis) could be used to understand the
personalities of his patients and expose repressed material.
• The behavioral model concerns the cognitive process of learning, which is any relatively
permanent change in behavior due to experience and practice, and has two main forms –
associative learning to include classical and operant conditioning and observational learning.
Respondent conditioning (also called classical or Pavlovian conditioning) occurs when we link a
previously neutral stimulus with a stimulus that is unlearned or inborn, called an unconditioned
stimulus.
• Operant conditioning is a type of associate learning which focuses on consequences that follow
a response or behavior that we make (anything we do, say, or think/feel) and whether it makes
a behavior more or less likely to occur.
• Observational learning is learning by watching others and modeling techniques change behavior
by having subjects observe a model in a situation that usually causes them some anxiety.
• The cognitive model focuses on schemas, cognitive errors, attributions, and maladaptive
cognitions and offers strategies such as CBT, cognitive restructuring, cognitive coping skills
training, and acceptance.
• The humanistic perspective focuses on positive regard, conditions of worth, and the fully
functioning person while the existential perspective stresses the need for people to re-create
themselves continually and be self-aware, acknowledges that anxiety is a normal part of life,
focuses on free will and self-determination, emphasizes that each person has a unique identity
known only through relationships and the search for meaning, and finally, that we develop to
our maximum potential.
Section 2.3 Review Questions
1. What are the three parts of personality according to Freud?
2. What are the five psychosexual stages according to Freud?
3. List and define the ten defense mechanisms proposed by Freud.
4. What are the three assessment techniques used by Freud?
5. What is learning and what forms does it take?
6. Describe respondent conditioning.
7. Describe operant conditioning.
8. Describe observational learning and modeling.
9. How does the cognitive model approach psychopathology?
10. How does the humanistic perspective approach psychopathology?
11. How does the existential perspective approach psychopathology?
2.4 The Sociocultural Model
Section 2.4 Learning Objectives
• Describe the sociocultural model.
• Clarify how socioeconomic factors affect mental illness.
• Clarify how gender factors affect mental illness.
• Clarify how environmental factors affect mental illness.
• Clarify how multicultural factors affect mental illness.
• Evaluate the sociocultural model.
Section 2.5 Key Terms
Culture-sensitive therapies: Include increasing the therapist’s awareness of cultural values,
hardships, stressors, and/or prejudices faced by their client; the identification of suppressed anger
and pain; and raising the client’s self-worth.
Sociocultural model: Incorporates social and cultural factors, including race, ethnicity, gender,
religious orientation, socioeconomic status, and sexual orientation, into explaining the causes of
mental disorders.
Section 2.4 Key Takeaway
• The sociocultural model asserts that race, ethnicity, gender, religious orientation,
socioeconomic status, sexual orientation all play a role in the development and treatment of
mental illness.
Section 2.4 Review Questions
1. How do socioeconomic, gender, environmental, and multicultural factors affect mental illness
and its treatment?
2. How effective is the sociocultural model at explaining psychopathology and its treatment?
