SAC4008B Introduction to Psychology Assessment Sample 1

SAC4008B Introduction to Psychology

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Jamal’s Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a behavioural condition that hinders the focus on the normal routines of daily life. ADHD is normally characterized by impulsive nature, poor attention, excessive activity and therefore children with ADHD symptoms exhibits a poor social relationship. This can be further explained using the different psychological approaches such as social psychology which involves social behaviours of a child diagnosed with ADHD and the other approach of Biopsychology.

Explanation of Jamal’s Behavior using Social Psychology approach

Children suffering from ADHD experience social difficulties, social rejection and interpersonal relationship problems resulted due to their impulsive and hyperactivity behaviours which in turn causes suffering and emotional pain (Aacap.org, 2021). With this said, Jamal's impulsive and Hyperactive behaviours due to ADHD, therefore, resulted in truanting from school regularly and frequent disciplinary actions by the teachers. It is easy for anyone to understand the reason for this difficult behaviour of children suffering from ADHD who often struggles in social situations as one of the most important aspects of child development is interacting successfully with peers, yet 50-60% of children with ADHD have a difficulty in peer relationship as mentioned in the case of Jamal who often been reported hitting his peers who talk to him in a wrong way (Layton et al., 2018). To interact with others effectively, an individual must be attentive, responsible and can control impulsive behaviour however children suffering from ADHD are often forgetful, inattentive and lack control over their impulsive nature which result in a negative perception among the people who do not recognize this invisible disability but a label the person suffering from ADHD as rude, ill-mannered, self-centred, and host of other negative personality attributes. This negative perception sometimes leads to social rejection of the individual suffering from ADHD. This social rejection can cause emotional pain in the lives of children such as Jamal's which can create havoc and lower self-esteem throughout their lives. The Social construct theory applies to the behaviour of Jamal due to ADHD which suggest that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is not an actual disease but is socially incurred behaviours that do not meet the social norms (Ra et al., 2018). As per this theory, ADHD is a disability that is invisible which is resultant of interaction by humans.

However, the above negative aspect can be eliminated by educating individual suffering from ADHD and others about the significance of ADHD and how it affects social skills and behaviours which result in eliminating the conflict and blame. Finally, individuals such as Jamal should be provided with proper assessment of behaviour, treatment and education along with learning strategies to become proficient as possible on social skills aspects. Also, individual suffering from ADHD can learn an effective way of interaction so that their social lives can be enhanced (Luo et al., 2019).

Explanation of Jamal’s Behavior using Biopsychology approach

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is considered more of a biological approach in which people have difficulty with inattention, impulsivity which is relatable to Jamal's case. According to AACAP .org, 2021, ADHD is a brain disorder as many scientists have shown that a child brain suffering from ADHD is different from the child who is not suffering from this disability. This disability changes as the child mature. As per researchers, the child brain suffering from ADHD can be smaller than that of those areas of the brain in children without ADHD. Since, the brain is an organ that controls the thinking capacity, feeling and behaviour, can be the major cause of ADHD in children and adults (Faraone and Larsson, 2019). The front portion of the brain behind the frontal area is part of the brain that helps in making decisions, paying attention, impulse control, social behaviour. According to Onat et al., 2020 different biological factors are primarily responsible for the development of ADHD in an individual just as in the case of Jamal. The different factors are as mentioned below;

1. Neurological factors

Neurological factors like acute brain damage and neurological dysfunction contribute to the development of ADHD and other mental illness. Brain damage such as damage in certain parts of the brain such as the prefrontal cortex can lead to ADHD. Jamal's experience with his mother and his estranged father could be the reason for internal brain damage which has resulted in the development of ADHD. Besides, damage to the brain, brain dysfunction is another reason for the development of ADHD among children (Huang-Pollock et al., 2020).

2. Genetic Factors

The genetic factors include a higher rate of alcoholism, affective disorder, psychiatric difficulties among the natural parents and extended relatives contribute to the development of ADHD among children (Fox et al., 2020). The excessive alcoholism of Jamal's biological father is, therefore, can be the reason for the development of ADHD in Jamal.

3. Toxic reaction

The development of ADHD can also cause the intake of toxic in the diet. Intake of excessive food additives reaction. as opined by Owens, 2020. 50% of all ADHD children develop the symptoms due to adverse reaction to food additives. Another factor that helps in the development of ADHD among children is lead intake which arises due to inhalation of lead fumes in the atmosphere which is another toxic element that leads to ADHD symptoms. Furthermore, the use of any medication that helps to cure epilepsy can cause ADHD as side effects. However, these side effects are prone to children suffering from epilepsy only as these medications are generally not consumed by other children suffering from ADHD(Thapar, 2020).

4. Minor Physical abnormalities

Children having a minor disability are more prone to show the symptoms of ADHD compared with other children. Biological variations such as inborn temperament is another cause of the development of ADHD among children including intelligence and physical size (Cabral et al., 2020).

5. Biological difference

Practically, these children with inborn temperament will be likely to encounter complexity in achieving expectation of behaviours both in school and at home resulting from an increased chance of negative interaction with peers and adults. Hence, these inborn temperaments can lead to the labelling of ADHD in an individual (Martin et al., 2020).

Conclusion

To Conclude, the abnormal behaviour of Jamal due to ADHD has been explained in the paper with the help of different psychological approaches such as the social-psychological approach and Biological psychological approach which classifies the different psychological characteristics of the children such as Jamal who is suffering from ADHD. The social approach helps in explaining the social behaviour of the person suffering from ADHD while the biological psychological approach relates to the biological aspect such as the functioning of the brain of children suffering from ADHD in comparison with the normal children who are not suffering from this disability. This paper discusses the different biological psychological factor which helps in contributing to the symptoms of ADHD.

References

1. org. 2021. ADHD & the Brain. [online] Available at: <https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/ADHD_and_the_Brain-121.aspx> [Accessed 5 May 2021].
2. Layton, T.J., Barnett, M.L., Hicks, T.R. and Jena, A.B., 2018. Attention deficit–hyperactivity disorder and month of school enrollment. New England Journal of Medicine, 379(22), pp.2122-2130.
3. Ra, C.K., Cho, J., Stone, M.D., De La Cerda, J., Goldenson, N.I., Moroney, E., Tung, I., Lee, S.S. and Leventhal, A.M., 2018. Association of digital media uses with subsequent symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder among adolescents. Jama, 320(3), pp.255-263.
4. Luo, Y., Weibman, D., Halperin, J.M. and Li, X., 2019. A review of heterogeneity in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Frontiers in human neuroscience, 13, p.42.
5. Faraone, S.V. and Larsson, H., 2019. Genetics of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Molecular psychiatry, 24(4), pp.562-575.
6. Onat, O.E., Kars, M.E., Gül, ?., Bilguvar, K., Wu, Y., Özhan, A., Ayd?n, C., Ba?ak, A.N., Trusso, M.A., Goracci, A. and Fallerini, C., 2020. Human CRY1 variants associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The Journal of clinical investigation, 130(7).
7. Huang-Pollock, C., Ratcliff, R., McKoon, G., Roule, A., Warner, T., Feldman, J. and Wise, S., 2020. A diffusion model analysis of sustained attention in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Neuropsychology.
8. Fox, A., Dishman, S., Valasek, M., Ratcliff, K. and Hilton, C., 2020. Effectiveness of social skills interventions incorporating peer interactions for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A systematic review. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74(2), pp.7402180070p1-7402180070p19.
9. Owens, J., 2020. Social Class, Diagnoses of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, and Child Well-Being. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 61(2), pp.134-152.
10. Thapar, A., 2020. ADHD: Progressing From Genetic Discoveries to Biological Insights.
11. Martin, J., Hosking, G., Wagon, M., Agha, S.S., Langley, K., Rees, E., Owen, M.J., O’Donovan, M., Kirov, G. and Thapar, A., 2020. A brief report: de novo copy number variants in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Translational psychiatry, 10(1), pp.1-6.

Cabral, M.D.I., Liu, S. and Soares, N., 2020. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: diagnostic criteria, epidemiology, risk factors and evaluation in youth. Translational paediatrics, 9(Suppl 1), p.S104.