The study of psychological and behavioral dysfunction

Question

psychopathologythe study of psychological and behavioral dysfunction occurring in mental disorder or in social disorganization; also : such dysfunction[M-W's Col. Dic.]The definition seems confusing to me. I would have written it like this:'the study of psychological and behavioral dysfunction occurring in human behavior',or,'the study of psychological and behavioral dysfunction resulting in mental disorder or in social disorganization'.Please guide me me. Where am I going wrong?

Kooyeen · Accepted Answer

Hi,

I think they used "occurring in" because psychopathology studies "mental disorders", and "psychological and behavioral dysfunction" is just part of mental disorders, so it "occurs" in mental disorders.

Jackson6612'the study of psychological and behavioral dysfunction occurring in human behavior',

That could be ok too, but psychopathology doesn't study human behavior in general, so "mental disorder" here is more appropriate and is used in the definition.

Jackson6612'the study of psychological and behavioral dysfunction resulting in mental disorder or in social disorganization'.

Psychological and behavioral dysfunction is not the "cause" of mental disorder, but is part of mental disorder, i.e. they define it. That's why "occurs" is better here, and is used in the definition.

That's just my opinion.

Avangi · Answer

Jackson6612the study of psychological and behavioral dysfunction occurring in mental disorder or in social disorganization

Perhaps you're thinking that "disorder" and "dysfunction" create a redundancy.

"psychological and behavioral dysfunction" -

Psychological things may or may not be "mental," depending on your definitions; but behavior is definitely overt.

"in mental disorder or in social disorganization" -

Likewise, mental disorder may or may not be crebral, but social disorganization is definitely overt.

I agree with you that there's room for improved clarity, but dictionary writers often go for economy of words. I guess we have to give them a little leeway.

You'd readily accept, "the study of psychological dysfunction occurring in social disorganization,"
OR "the study of behavioral dysfunction occurring in mental disorder."

But you'd readily reject "the study of psychological dysfunction occurring in mental disorder,"
OR "the study of behavioral dysfunction occurring in social disorganization," as being redundant.

It seems like they've carried "mix-and-match" a bit too far:

A & B' in A' & B instead of A & A' in B & B'

I think their concern is to properly distinguish between "disorder," "dysfunction," and "disorganization."
Your solutions ignore these distinctions.

Also, your second solution introduces the idea of causality, which they have painstakingly and properly avoided.

Of course the study may seek to determine causality, but your definition has it already in place.

Anyway, I might say, the study of mental disorder and psychological dysfunction occurring in behavioral dysfunction and social disorganization

I have to repeat the "dysfunction" and it sounds a little dumb, but it keeps the "mental" parts together and it keeps the "behavioral/social" parts together.

- A.

Jackson6612 · Answer

psychopathology
the study of psychological and behavioral dysfunction occurring in mental disorder or in social disorganization; also : such dysfunction
[M-W's Col. Dic.]

Let me break it down to better explain what is baffling me.

Perhaps, I was thinking psychology controls everything from behavior, mental condition to social interaction. But now I think I was wrong. It's both psychology (genetics, infuences of the environment in which one was brought up) and physiology (hormones). In other words, I was thinking 'mental disorders' and 'social disorganization' is controlled by psychology.

Crawford: We're interviewing all the serial killers now in custody for a psycho-behavioral profile. Could be a real help in unsolved cases. - Silence of the Lambs

What does the adjective "psycho-behavioral" mean here?

Should I used "is" or "are", what is general rule to follow? I used "is because it was more close to singular subject, "social disorganization", than the plural "mental disorders".

I was thinking 'mental disorders' and 'social disorganization' is controlled by psychology.

Avangi · Answer

There may be as many schools of thought in the study of behavior and the mind as there are in the study of grammar and linguistics. Each school defines the terms in their own ways.

The entry here is "psychopathology." "Pathology" is sickness or abnormality of any kind. So we're talking about abnormal psychology. "Dysfunction," "disorder," and "disorganization" are all undesirable in the ideal smoothly running human system.

The entry is not intended to be a description of the way things work, or are supposed to work.
It's a statement of what the science (study) comprises.

"Occurring in" is not a statement of cause and effect. It's a statement of conjunction.

Let me ad lib: Psychopathology (a science) is the study of brain malfunctions where they are associated with behavioral/sociological abnormalities. (Not official! Okay?)
The question of what causes what - what controls what - is not addressed in this definition, nor should it be.
the study of psychological and behavioral dysfunction occurring in mental disorder or in social disorganization .

You can't fault the definition of the science because it doesn't tell you how the brain is supposed to work.

Jackson6612Crawford: We're interviewing all the serial killers now in custody for a psycho-behavioral profile. Could be a real help in unsolved cases. - Silence of the Lambs
What does the adjective "psycho-behavioral" mean here?

You'd really have to ask the guy who invented the profile and the name for it.

I tried to make the point in my earlier post that social behavior and behavior in general is overt. We can observe it by watching what the subject does.

Well, they're also learning how to wire up the brain to see what's going on in there too.

"Psycho" is the inside stuff; "behavioral" is the outside stuff. (To say someone is "psycho" is just slang.)

In this particular term, they probably assume that what's going on in the brain determines how we behave.

They're also learning how to evaluate the subject's answers to certain questions,
to find out what's going on in his mind, and therefore how he might behave.

What have I missed? I suppose you can't separate what we think from what we do 100%.

There are certainly factors unknown to Freud which influence our thinking and our behavior, as you say.

The study of psychological and behavioral dysfunction

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