AQA A Level Psychology复习笔记4.1.4 Definitions of Abnormality: Statistical Infrequency

Statistical infrequency

• This definition looks at behaviours through statistics, measuring which behaviours are statistically normal and abnormal
• Statistics are gathered as a measure, in this instance, they are a measure of behaviours
• Rare behaviours are considered statistically abnormal
• The behaviours that are considered rare are dependent on normal distribution
• Most people will be around the mean (average) of the normal distribution with rare behaviours further away, either above or below the mean
• An example would be Schizophrenia as it is a condition seen in 1 in a 100 people, making it statistically rare

Criticisms of statistical infrequency

Strengths

• It is an objective measure of measuring abnormality
• There are no judgements made about the person with the abnormality: They just fall outside a statistical range
• The graphs that plot the standard deviations are based on real data and, therefore, should be unbiased

Limitations

• Some conditions like depression are seen as psychopathologies yet are so common in our society that it feels wrong to state it is statistically infrequent
• So not all abnormalities are statistically infrequent
• Likewise, not all statistical infrequencies are abnormal: i.e. having a high IQ