Nolen-Hoeksema's Abnormal Psychology 9e Heather Jennings
(Instructor's Manual (Lecture Notes Only) All Chapters, 100%
Original Verified, A+ Grade)
Chapter 1
Looking at Abnormality
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Abnormality Along the Continuum (continuum model of abnormality, psychopathology)
A. Extraordinary People
II. Defining Abnormality
A. The Four Ds of Abnormality
1. Shades of Gray
B. The Disease Model of Mental Illness
C. Cultural Norms (cultural relativism)
III. Historical Perspectives on Abnormality (biological theories, supernatural theories,
psychological theories)
A. Ancient Theories
1. Driving Away Evil Spirits (trephination)
2. Ancient China: Balancing Yin and Yang
3. Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome: Biological Theories Dominate
B. Medieval Views
1. Witchcraft
2. Psychic Epidemics
C. The Spread of Asylums
D. Moral Treatment in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (mental hygiene movement,
moral treatment)
IV. The Emergence of Modern Perspectives
A. The Beginnings of Modern Biological Perspectives (general paresis)
B. The Psychoanalytic Perspective (mesmerism, psychoanalysis)
C. The Roots of Behaviorism (classical conditioning, behaviorism)
D. The Cognitive Revolution (cognitions, self-efficacy beliefs)
V. Modern Mental Health Care
A. Deinstitutionalization (patients’ rights movement, deinstitutionalization, community
mental health movement, community mental health centers, halfway houses, day
treatment centers)
B. Managed Care
1. Case Study
C. Professions Within Abnormal Psychology
VI. Chapter Integration
A. Shades of Gray Discussion
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,ACTIVITIES AVAILABLE IN CONNECT
Connect is a teaching and learning platform designed to boost performance.
Connect offers:
• one destination for all course content
• assignment and quiz banks
• deep insights into student performance
• recommendations for students to improve
• adaptive learning features that customize the student experience
The following are a selection of the resources available in Connect for this course:
Chapter Resource Name Resource Type
1 Abnormality Concept Clip
1 Thinking Critically: Defining Abnormality Critical Thinking
Suggestion: SmartBook is an invaluable tool in helping students to integrate the content. While
many are drawn to Abnormal Psychology (which they equate with the whole field of
psychology), they find it difficult to internalize the respective theoretical orientations for
conceptualizations and treatment. SmartBook facilitates this by allowing them to practice their
knowledge. Faces Interactives (available with some of the chapters) are very helpful, and
students like adopting the clinician role.
LECTURE SUGGESTIONS
1. General Questions and Concerns Related to Defining Abnormality
The first or second meeting of the course is an optimal point to discuss concerns, experiences,
misconceptions, and understandings of abnormal psychology and/or behavior. The study of
abnormal psychology is the study of people whose behavior and experiences may range from the
bizarre and unusual to the familiar. Many of the students will be related to or acquainted with a
person experiencing one of the disorders to be addressed in the course, and some of the students
may experience one of these disorders themselves. The instructor might wish to invite a
community spokesperson to address the class—for example, someone from a local chapter of the
National Alliance for the Mentally Ill or a local support gfroup for persons with bipolar disorder.
Prior to any such guest presentation, it is imperative that the instructor discusses issues of
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,confidentiality and privacy.
At some point during discussion of the ubiquitous of abnormal behavior, the instructor might
consider addressing the possibility that the presentation of bizarre or unusual behaviors may
provoke laughter. It is suggested that laughter is a common and understandable way of
responding to the unexpected (that's what makes a joke a joke) and that laughter is often a way of
distancing ourselves from material that might otherwise make us feel uncomfortable. Students
need not be admonished for finding humor in some of the unusual phenomena to be discussed in
the course, but a social norm prohibiting put-downs and ridicule of persons with psychological
disorders might be established early in the course. One can be compassionate while appreciating
the humorous side of the sometimes-painful human condition. For example, discussion might be
generated around various colloquial terms for concepts associated with psychological disorders,
for example, “crazy,” “nuts,” “loony bin,” and so on. This is also an opportunity to consider the
social constructions of disorders and the influence of stigma.
2. The Meaning of Abnormality
A logical place to start in a class on abnormal psychology is with a discussion of what is meant
by the terms “abnormal,” “abnormality,” and “abnormal behavior.” The text begins by placing
the label within the framework of a continuum. The text also notes that elements such as history,
place, tradition, culture, purpose, and gender are among the important variables in determining
whether a particular behavior or set of behaviors is normal.
A seminal study on the contextual interpretation of behavior was that of David Rosenhan (1973),
who embarrassed the mental health community when the eight participants in his research,
having presented themselves to 12 different mental institutions in five different states with the
symptoms of having heard voices say “empty,” “hollow,” and “thud” (but otherwise presenting
no unusual behaviors) were all admitted, usually with the diagnosis of schizophrenia. Each of
these “pseudopatients” had to “work” his way out (Dr. Rosenhan himself was one of the
pseudopatients), which they began doing immediately upon admission in part by acting
completely “normal.” Although the real patients all seemed to know that these participants were
not "insane," the staff not only believed they were suffering from mental disorders but labeled
their behaviors within that context (those who took notes about their experiences had the notation
of “note taking behavior” listed on their charts). When each of these participants was finally
released from hospitalization, rather than indicate that there was no disorder in the first place,
each was listed as having their symptoms “in remission.” With respect to our author's
recognizing the importance of context in a determination of what is seen as “normal” or
“abnormal,” recall that Rosenhan noted, “It is clear that we cannot distinguish the sane from the
insane in psychiatric hospitals. The hospital itself imposes a special environment in which the
meanings of behavior can easily be misunderstood” (p. 257).
Rosenhan’s (1973) criticisms were considerably more kind (although perhaps not intentionally
so) than those of Kate Millett, feminist author of Sexual Politics. Millett (1990) wrote of her
experiences with bipolar disorder in The Loony Bin Trip. Her book is an indictment of a whole
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, society that labels people with a disorder and then interprets all of their behavior within the
context of that disorder.
Understanding the continuum model for understanding abnormality, what exactly is
“abnormality”? Understanding that this is a difficult term to define, our author explores a variety
of criteria, including cultural relativism, deviant, distress (i.e., of the person suffering the
disorder, not the people around them), and mental illness. Finally, Nolen-Hoeksema set out four
behavioral characteristics that psychologists have determined to be important (although
constrained in part by societal norms). Together, the author refers to these elements as “The Four
Ds of Abnormality.” They are:
1. somewhat unusual for the social context (deviant),
2. distressing to the individual,
3. interfering with social or occupational functioning (dysfunction), and
4. dangerous (p. 3).
3. Diagnosis as Social Construction and a Form of Social Control
To highlight the phenomenon in which diagnosis has been used as a means of social control, I
draw students' attention to the historical use of the labels drapetomania (a "sickness" that caused
black slaves to desire their freedom) and dysaesthesia Aethiopis (the refusal to work for one's
master) (referenced on p. 5). Lest students remain complacent in the belief that such atrocities
could not possibly be repeated in modern society, I cite several examples of diagnosis in the
service of social control that have occurred in the twentieth century. (For these, I borrow
extensively from Brown [1990; see references].)
First, research into the archives of the Boston Psychiatric Hospital, during the years 1912–1921,
reveals that psychiatrists used the term psychopathic to diagnose the "hypersexual behavior" of
sexually active working-class women. These "patients" were typically women who lived
economically independent lifestyles and had chosen to forgo or delay marriage or who were
widows or divorced. Another contemporary example of pathologizing behavior as a means of
social control occurred in the 1960s and implicates Bruno Bettelheim, then famous as an
authority on childhood autism and operator of the private Orthogenic School for severely
disturbed children in Chicago. In testimony presented to the House Special Subcommittee on
education on March 20, 1969, Bettelheim told the U.S. Congress that student antiwar protesters
at the University of Chicago had no serious political agenda. Instead, he testified that they were
acting out unresolved Oedipal conflicts by attacking the university as a surrogate father.
4. Advantages and Limitations of the Various Criteria for Defining Abnormality
To convey comparisons and contrasts between the various criteria for defining abnormality, I ask
students to consider who might be inadvertently and unjustifiably included or excluded by each
criterion. This provides student-generated examples of instances that define the boundaries of
each criterion and illustrates their practical utility. For example, when considering the
unusualness criterion, I query students for examples of behaviors that might be misguidedly
included according to this criterion and those behaviors that we might agree should be labeled as
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