PSY240H5 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Rollo May, Little Albert Experiment, Experience 7
Document Summary
Abnormal psychology: chapter 2 theoretical perspectives on abnormal. From the 20th century, there are two main streams of thought concerning mental disorders. One focuses on biological aspects of disorders. The other focuses on environmental inluences (the nature/nurture distinction) Single-factor explanation: attempts to trace the origin of a particular disorder to one factor usually relects the primary focus of the researcher/theorist/clinician. Interactionist explanation: view behaviour as the product of the interaction of a variety of factors. Better at making theories about mental disorders take into account cognitive, social, cultural environment + biology of individual. Experiments are not set up to prove the worth of a theory but to reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis. Null hypothesis: proposes that the prediction made from the theory is false. Theories gain strength because alternative explanations are rejected. General aim about mental disorders are to explain. The etiology cause or origins of the problem behaviour/disorder.
