Lots of research looks at the “typical” or “average” person

But what about unusual people?

Psychologists of individual differences study what makes people DIFFERENT

PERSONAL QUALITIES Personality Intelligence Moral values Mental health GROUP IDENTITIES Race Culture Gender

In the Middle Ages, people were grouped by their “humours”

(mentioned in Shakespeare) Humours = magical fluids that

run through the body Sanguine personalities had too

much blood: they were OUTGOING & EXCITABLE

In the 20th century, WILLIAM SHELDON proposed idea of “somatotypes”

Somatotypes = body shapes ENDOMORPHS sociable ECTOMORPHS solitary MESOMORPHS risk-taking,

dominant

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Modern psychology is more interested in personality TRAITS

Traits = DISPOSITIONS we all share, but to varying degrees

The BIG FIVE 1. Extraversion (outgoing) 2. Neuroticism (moody) 3. Agreeableness (nice) 4. Conscientiousness (dependable) 5. Openness to experience (flexible/imaginative)

Self-reports PSYCHOMETRIC TESTS Questionnaires that give a SCORE to your

mental characteristics Eg personality quiz Most famous is the EYSENCK PERSONALITY

QUESTIONNAIRE (1975) Measures Extraversion & Neuroticism

PROJECTIVE TESTS Activity which asks the

respondent to be creative Interprets hidden meaning in

their response Herman Rorschach created

inkblot test What can you see in the blot?

Social psychologists say SITUATIONS are more important than dispositions

Behaviourists say personality is just a set of BEHAVIOURS we have learned

Is there a PERSONALITY that stays the same in all situations?

Can we have MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES?

EXPLANATIONS OF BEHAVIOUR

MULTIPLE MULTIPLE PERSONALITY PERSONALITY

DISORDERDISORDER

A single

person has

more than 1

distinctive

personality

Often st

ems

from

eve

nts

that

hap

pen

in e

arly

child

hood

The n

ew

pers

onal

ities

are

used

to d

eal w

ith

differ

ent s

ocia

l

situa

tions

the

orig

inal

per

sona

lity

can’

t dea

l with

“Eve White”, American housewife (25) treated for amnesia/depression using hypnosis

New personality appears! “Hello doc!”

Eve Black is EW’s opposite: fun-loving, sexy, destructive, amoral

Scores differently on psychometric & projective tests… different handwriting!

Later, 3rd personality (Jane) emerges Doctors try to persuade EW & EB to

“merge” with healthier Jane

Joanne Woodward got an Oscar for the film of the case study – The Three Faces of Eve (1957)

What is “madness”? Before we can cure it, can

we even define it? In the UK, 1 in 6 adults is

affected by mental distress at any one time

Anxiety & depression affect 9% of adults each year

Diagnoses are set out in DSM-IV (in USA) or ICD (in UK and elsewhere)

PSYCHIATRIC PSYCHIATRIC DIAGNOSIS OF DIAGNOSIS OF

INSANITYINSANITY

Diagnosis

based on

medical model

Differ

ent

clas

sifica

tion

syst

ems a

re

used su

ch a

s

the

DSM-IV

allo

wing

sym

ptom

s to

be c

hecke

d

For e

xam

ple;

to

diag

nose

schi

zoph

reni

a

peop

le m

ust s

how 2

or m

ore

sym

ptom

s

for 6

mon

ths

EXPLANATIONS OF BEHAVIOUR

NOT the same as multiple personality disorder

Means “shattered mind” Many different symptoms, not

all sufferers have them all: Delusions Hallucinations/hearing voices Inappropriate emotions Involuntary movements No biological test for

schizophrenia – only self-reports

Around 1% of population will suffer from schizophrenia

Between 2-4 in 1000 in any year

Similar for men/women – shows in late teens for men, but mid-thirties for women

Treated with anti-psychotic drugs…

… but they have side-effects (tremors, facial tics, etc)

Thomas Szasz (1960) wrote about the “myth of mental illness”

No such thing as “mental illness” Illnesses have a biological defect

and produce physical symptoms Madness is unacceptable beliefs

or problems in living! Argues blaming it on “illness”

like blaming on witches in 17th century

Side effect of certain drugs (LSD, mescaline)

Commonly reported by bereaved people

Joan of Arc heard voices from age 12 – told her to wage war on the English!

English decided not God but the Devil – they burnt her

Voices often disturbing, but can be comforting or inspirational

David Rosenhan wanted to investigate if experts can diagnose mental illness

Sent 8 “pseudopatients” into mental hospitals saying they heard voices

All admitted with schizophrenia How long would it take to get out? Average 19 days Staff interpreted ordinary

behaviour as evidence of madness STICKY LABELING

Is there an “addictive personality”? How do addicts differ from normal

(non-addicted) people? BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION “Pleasure centres” in the brain Genetic component? Gene DRD2 appears in 42% of

people with alcoholism Also found in 25% of general

population May be a genetic link – but needs

more explanation than this

BEHAVIOURAL EXPLANATION We become addicted to

behaviours, not just to substances

EG shopping, gambling, sex, work, fitness, World of Warcraft

SALIENCE – how important it is

EUPHORIA – pleasurable TOLERANCE & WITHDRAWAL CONFLICT & RELAPSE

Heuristics are “rules of thumb” that help us in our thinking

Cognitive strategies for solving problems Willem Wagenaar proposed 16 heuristics,

including: ILLUSION OF CONTROL Having “lucky numbers”, a “favourite” slot

machine FLEXIBLE ATTRIBUTIONS Losses are “near misses”, successes due to own

skill – good for self-esteem FIX ON ABSOLUTE FREQUENCY Count total winnings, not proportion of money

spent

Explore thought processes of gamblers 30 regular gamblers (RGs), 30 NRGs,

recruited through adverts or personal contact

Given £3 stake on a fruit machine Half asked to verbalise their thoughts RGs played more games, lost more

when they verbalised and made more irrational verbalisations

RGs believed own skill was factor in winning

Suggests cognitive therapy for gambling addicts

ADDICTIVE ADDICTIVE BEHAVIOURBEHAVIOUR

Any harmful

or obsessive

behaviour

Faulty

thin

king

patte

rns

cause

peo

ple

to p

roduce

addic

tive

behav

iours

Differ

ent l

ife

expe

rienc

es c

ause

peop

le to

dev

elop

differ

ent p

atte

rns o

f

addi

ctiv

e be

havi

our

EXPLANATIONS OF BEHAVIOUR

Focuses on the differences between people (rather than things we might have in common).

There are differences between the people of any group, in terms of their personal qualities, the ways in which they respond to situations, their behaviour and so on. Examining these differences is what is most revealing.

Assumes what makes us individual makes us behave as individuals e.g. intelligence and personality, but could also be through abnormality (such as mental disorders), gender and race.

Other research has tried to categorise & identify different types of abnormality.

Individual differences are measured using psychometric tests e.g. IQ/personality tests.

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Provides useful explanations for human behaviour by investigating individual cases.

Some of the explanations provided can be considered as useful in improving the experiences of people with mental health problems

Important individual differences tends to be over looked by other approaches.

The easy analysis of the quantitative data psychometric tests produce lead to the identification of the differences between people.

It is difficult to make generalisations from research focusing on an individual (case study).

There is a danger of labelling people & perhaps encouraging discrimination.

Research often carried out on limited samples from one culture.

If you study unusual or extraordinary people, can you GENERALISE the results to others?

Is Eve White/Black typical of MPD (multiple personality disorder) sufferers?

Can you generalise from research on schizophrenia to ALL mental illness?

What do fruit machine addicts tell you about other sorts of gamblers? Or other sorts of addicts?

WHAT ABOUT ETHNOCENTRISM? Talking to the dead is a coping strategy among

West Indians – often misdiagnosed as schizophrenia by white doctors

Black people are 5% of UK population, but 25% of psychiatric patients are black…