PS280 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Intellectual Disability, Personal Distress, Transvestism
Document Summary
Field concerned with the nature and development of abnormal . Abnormality usually determined by the presence of several characteristics at one time such as: A 14-year old boy wetting his bed and. Mental retardation (iq < 70) occur infrequently, as do most mental disorders. Consider the flip side of mental retardation-- intellectual giftedness (iq >130) A behaviour that defies or goes against social norms; it either threatens or makes anxious those observing it. Anti-social behaviour of the psychopath violates social norms and is threatening to others. But, violation of norms needs to be considered in reference to prevailing cultural norms. What is the norm in one culture may be abnormal in another. A behaviour that creates personal suffering, distress or torment in the person. This criterion fits many of the forms of abnormality such as depression but some disorders do not necessarily involve distress.
