Psychology AQA A PSYA2 29th May 2012!

what book are you guys using for this exam?

Lol, i'd love an A, but I have a ridiculously intense interest in psychology and psychiatry. I read up on random neuro disabilities, just for fun, however sad that sounds.

It's not sad in the slightest I read up on things in History because they fascinate me. I read the whole Wikipedia page on the Führerbunker very recently so

Thanks for the reassurance.

No worries Different things fascinate different people ^^

I am now, thanks for asking.

3 days late but I'm glad you're okay

Also planning to start when Easter does. Technically that's now but I'm not including this weekend.

Although we haven't finished the entire syllabus yet, and I find it difficult to start going over stuff before I've even finished it, if that makes sense.

Well I have touched stress but I'll be starting to revise abnormality on Monday. So I guess you could start revising one of the topics you've finished?

what book are you guys using for this exam?

ALSO can any one mark this for me?

OUTLINE AND EVALUATE DEFINITIONS OF ABNORMALITY (12 marks)

One definition of abnormality is deviation from social norms. According to this definition, in any society there are social norms (standards of acceptable behaviour) that are set by the social group, and adhered to by those in the social group. These standards are often in place for good reasons, e.g. politeness is a social norm and so any behaviour which deviates from the social norms are deemed as abnormal.
However judgment of deviance is dependent on the context of a particular behaviour. There is not a clear line between what an abnormal deviation is and what is simply nothing more than harmless eccentricity.
Not to mention that cultural relativism has not been taken into consideration. What is considered abnormal in one culture may be considered as normal in another. Americans, for instance, maintain fairly direct eye contact when conversing with others. Asians, on the other hand, may avert their eyes as a sign of politeness and respect.
Another definition of abnormality is the failure to function adequately. This suggests that people not able to attain their normal pattern of behaviour are said to be failing to function adequately. For example, a depressed person who cannot hold down a job and whose relationships break up because of their depressed mood, or an agoraphobic who is afraid to leave their house.
The problem with this definition is that it is extremely subjective. What is functioning adequately? It is based on social judgement and is different for each person– who has the right to judge? This links to the idea that people may not be able to recognise that they are functioning inadequately or that they have a problem (such as personality disorders). Therefore, someone else has to define them as abnormal, such as a doctor or a judge, and this may be controversial.
Cultural relativism also limits this definition as it is based on western cultures, a function from one culture may not be considered as adequate in another. This might explain why lower-class and non-white patients are more often diagnosed with mental disorders.
The last definition is deviation from ideal mental health. Marie Jahoda conducted a review of common references to categorise ideal mental health. This consisted of; having high self-esteem, self-actualisation, being able to cope with stress, autonomy and having an accurate perception of reality.
However according to this definition most people would be considered as abnormal as it is highly unlikely anyone meets all of these criteria’s. We need to understand how many of these criteria's should be lacking before we are classified as abnormal.
Once again cultural relativism should be taken into account all of the criteria’s are culture bound. Jahoda's definitions are based on western individualistic values of personal growth and so are hard to apply to collectivist cultures that don’t encourage independence.

I'm a resitter, need to get my lowww B to an A. Can anyone help me, I'm not really too sure what the 12 markers can be on.. is it anything named on the spec? So we could literally get a 12 marker on SIT?
I'm pretty confused as AS is completely different to A2.