Psychology Assesment EUR 2025-2026
Clinical Psychology
Normal or Abnormal? -
Lecture
Indicators of abnormality (4 D’s):
1. Deviance, statistical norm and social norm. Limitations are deviance
is not sufficient and cut-points arbitrary.
2. Distress, if people suffer or experience psychological pain.
Limitations are neither sufficient, nor necessary and very subjective.
3. Dysfunction, behaviors and feelings that interfere with a person’s
ability to function in daily life. Limitations are cut-points arbitrary
and subjective.
4. Dangerousness, behaviors and feelings potentially harmful for one
self or others. Limitations are cut-points arbitrary.
The above are the most important criteria, there are more: irrational or
unpredictable, misperceptions of reality and social discomfort.
So, how is abnormal behaviour defined?
There are certain criteria, these differ per disorder, they represent
continuum with arbitrary cut-points and each mentioned criteria is neither
sufficient nor necessary.
-not sufficient means: not everyone experiencing it has the disorder.
-not necessary means: not everyone with the disorder experiences it.
, What Do We Mean by Abnormality? -
Article 1
There is still no universal agreement about what is meant by abnormality
or disorder. We do have definitions however, a truly statisfactory definition
will probably always remain elusive.
The definition of mental disorder present many challenges, a major
problem is that there is no one behaviour that makes someone abnormal.
However, there are some clear elements or indicators of abnormality. No
single indicator is sufficient in aand of itself to define or determine
abnormality. Nonetheless, the more that someone has difficulties in the
following areas, the more likely to form mental disorder.
Indicators of Abnormality
1. Subjective distress: consider people who suffer or experience
psychological pain as indicative of abnormality. People with
depression and anxiety distressed, but patient who is manic and
whose mood is one of elation may not be experiencing any distress
(In fact they dislike taking medications, because they dont want to
lose their manic ‘highs’). You have test tomorrow (worried), but we
dont label your subjective distress abnormal. It is neither a sufficient
condition (all that is needed) nor even a necessary condition (a
feature that all cases of abnormality must show).
2. Maladaptiveness: interferes with our well-being and with our ability
to enjoy our work and our relationships. Anorexia may restrict intake
food to the point she needs to be hospitalised. Depression withdraw
from friends and family. But not all disorders involve maladaptive
behavior; con artist and contract killer, both have antisocial
personality disorder. For them its not maladaptive, because it is the
way in which they make their respective livings. We consider them
abnormal, because their behavior is maladaptive for and toward
society.
3. Statistical deviancy: simply considering statistically rare behavior to
be abnormal does not provide us with a solution to our problem of
defining abnormality. We do not consider people with uncommon
talents to be abnormal. On the other hand intellectual disability
(statistically rare and represents a deviation from normal) is
considered to reflect abnormality. In defining abnormality we make
judgements. If something is statistically rare and undesirable we are
more likely to consider it abnormal than something that is
statistically rare and highly desirable, or something that is
undesirable but statistically common.
Clinical Psychology
Normal or Abnormal? -
Lecture
Indicators of abnormality (4 D’s):
1. Deviance, statistical norm and social norm. Limitations are deviance
is not sufficient and cut-points arbitrary.
2. Distress, if people suffer or experience psychological pain.
Limitations are neither sufficient, nor necessary and very subjective.
3. Dysfunction, behaviors and feelings that interfere with a person’s
ability to function in daily life. Limitations are cut-points arbitrary
and subjective.
4. Dangerousness, behaviors and feelings potentially harmful for one
self or others. Limitations are cut-points arbitrary.
The above are the most important criteria, there are more: irrational or
unpredictable, misperceptions of reality and social discomfort.
So, how is abnormal behaviour defined?
There are certain criteria, these differ per disorder, they represent
continuum with arbitrary cut-points and each mentioned criteria is neither
sufficient nor necessary.
-not sufficient means: not everyone experiencing it has the disorder.
-not necessary means: not everyone with the disorder experiences it.
, What Do We Mean by Abnormality? -
Article 1
There is still no universal agreement about what is meant by abnormality
or disorder. We do have definitions however, a truly statisfactory definition
will probably always remain elusive.
The definition of mental disorder present many challenges, a major
problem is that there is no one behaviour that makes someone abnormal.
However, there are some clear elements or indicators of abnormality. No
single indicator is sufficient in aand of itself to define or determine
abnormality. Nonetheless, the more that someone has difficulties in the
following areas, the more likely to form mental disorder.
Indicators of Abnormality
1. Subjective distress: consider people who suffer or experience
psychological pain as indicative of abnormality. People with
depression and anxiety distressed, but patient who is manic and
whose mood is one of elation may not be experiencing any distress
(In fact they dislike taking medications, because they dont want to
lose their manic ‘highs’). You have test tomorrow (worried), but we
dont label your subjective distress abnormal. It is neither a sufficient
condition (all that is needed) nor even a necessary condition (a
feature that all cases of abnormality must show).
2. Maladaptiveness: interferes with our well-being and with our ability
to enjoy our work and our relationships. Anorexia may restrict intake
food to the point she needs to be hospitalised. Depression withdraw
from friends and family. But not all disorders involve maladaptive
behavior; con artist and contract killer, both have antisocial
personality disorder. For them its not maladaptive, because it is the
way in which they make their respective livings. We consider them
abnormal, because their behavior is maladaptive for and toward
society.
3. Statistical deviancy: simply considering statistically rare behavior to
be abnormal does not provide us with a solution to our problem of
defining abnormality. We do not consider people with uncommon
talents to be abnormal. On the other hand intellectual disability
(statistically rare and represents a deviation from normal) is
considered to reflect abnormality. In defining abnormality we make
judgements. If something is statistically rare and undesirable we are
more likely to consider it abnormal than something that is
statistically rare and highly desirable, or something that is
undesirable but statistically common.
