Psychological Disorders 547or thinking is explained. And as we will see in Chapter Fifteen, those same perspectives
influence how psychological disorders are treated.
THE BIOLOGICAL MODEL: MEDICAL CAUSES FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS The
biological model proposes that psychological disorders have a biological or med-
ical cause (Gamwell & Tomes, 1995). This model explains disorders such as anxiety,
depression, and schizophrenia as caused by faulty neurotransmitter systems, genetic
problems, brain damage and dysfunction, or some combination of those causes. For
example, as you may recall from the discussion of trait theory and the five-factor the-
ory of personality traits, to Learning Objectives 13.10, 13.11, a growing body
of evidence suggests that basic personality traits are as much influenced by genetic
inheritance as they are by experience and upbringing, even across cultures (Bouchard,
1994; Herbst et al., 2000; Jang et al., 1996; Loehlin, 1992; Loehlin et al., 1998). One of the
Big Five factors was neuroticism, for example, and it is easy to see how someone who
scores high in neuroticism would be at greater risk for anxiety-based disorders.
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL MODELS Although biological explanations of psychological dis-
orders are influential, they are not the only ways or even the first ways in which disorders
are explained. Several different theories of personality were discussed in Chapter Thir-
teen. These theories of personality can be used to describe and explain the formation of
not only personality but disordered thinking, behavior, and abnormal personality as well.
PSYCHODYNAMIC VIEW: HIDING PROBLEMS For instance, the psychodynamic model,
based on the work of Freud and his followers, to Learning Objectives 13.3, 13.4,
explains disordered thinking and behavior as the result of repressing one’s threaten-
ing thoughts, memories, and concerns in the unconscious mind (Carducci, 1998). These
repressed thoughts and urges try to resurface, and disordered functioning develops as
a way of keeping the thoughts repressed. According to this view, a woman who has
unacceptable thoughts of sleeping with her brother-in-law might feel “dirty” and be
compelled to wash her hands every time those thoughts threaten to become conscious,
ridding herself symbolically of the “dirty” thoughts.
BEHAVIORISM: LEARNING PROBLEMS Behaviorists, who define personality as a set of
learned responses, have no trouble explaining disordered behavior as being learned just
like normal behavior (Skinner, 1971; Watson, 1913). For example, when Emma was a
small child, a spider dropped onto her leg, causing her to scream and react with fear. Her
mother made a big fuss over her, giving her lots of attention. Each time Emma saw a spi-
der after this, she screamed again, drawing attention to herself. Behaviorists would say
that Emma’s fear of the spider was classically conditioned, and her screaming reaction
was positively reinforced by all the attention. to Learning Objectives 5.2 and 5.5.
COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE: THINKING PROBLEMS Cognitive psychologists, who study the
way people think, remember, and mentally organize information, see maladaptive func-
tioning as resulting from illogical thinking patterns (Mora, 1985). A cognitive psycholo-
gist might explain Emma’s fear of spiders as distorted thinking: “All spiders are vicious
and will bite me, and I will die!” Emma’s particular thinking patterns put her at a higher
risk of depression and anxiety than those of a person who thinks more logically.
THE SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE What’s normal in one culture may be abnormal in
another culture. In the sociocultural perspective of abnormality, abnormal thinking or
behavior (as well as normal) is seen as the product of behavioral shaping within the con-
text of family influences, the social group to which one belongs, and the culture within
which the family and social group exist. In particular, cultural differences in abnormal
thoughts or actions must be addressed when psychological professionals are attempting
to assess and treat members of a culture different from that of the professional. Cultural
relativity is a term that refers to the need to consider the unique characteristics of the
biological model
model of explaining thinking or
behavior as caused by biological
changes in the chemical, structural, or
genetic systems of the body.cognitive psychologists
psychologists who study the way
people think, remember, and mentally
organize information.cultural relativity
the need to consider the unique
characteristics of the culture in which
behavior takes place.sociocultural perspective
perspective that focuses on the
relationship between social behavior
and culture; in psychopathology,
perspective in which abnormal
thinking and behavior (as well as
normal) is seen as the product of
learning and shaping within the
context of the family, the social group
to which one belongs, and the culture
within which the family and social
group exist.