PSYB32H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Canadian Mental Health Association, Demonology, Dorothy Dix
Document Summary
Chapter 1: introduction - definitional and historical considerations, and. As we approach the study of psychopathology, the field concerned with the nature and development of abnormal behaviour, thoughts, and feelings, we do well to keep in mind that the subject offers few hard and fast answers, Abnormality is usually determined by the presence of several characteristics at one time. Abnormal behaviour- pattern of emotion, thought, and action deemed pathological for one or more of the following reasons: infrequent occurrence, violation of norms, personal distress, disability or dysfunction, and unexpectedness. One aspect of abnormal behaviour is that it is infrequent. The normal curve places the majority of people in the middle as far as any particular characteristic is concerned; very few people fall at either extreme. An assertion that a person is normal implies that he/she does not deviate much from the average in a particular trait or behaviour pattern.
