classic study Flashcards
what were the aims of Rosenhan’s study
investigate whether mental diagnosis is valid and whether the treatment in psych wards is fair.
give details of the sample
8 pseudo patients
5 men and 3 women
one was a psychology undergraduate in his 20s
remaining seven were much older and established. 3 of which were psychologists, a paediatrician, a psychiatrist, painter and a house wife.
pseudo patient lied about their name and (people with a career in mental health lied about their vocation to reduce suspicion) symptoms - hearing voices.
12 hospitals on the east and west coast of America
across 5 different states
old and shabby some were new and modern
some were research orientated others not.
one was private and the others were state/federal funded.
outline the method used
ppts complain of hearing voices ‘hollow, empty and thud’ they were unfamiliar but the same sex as the ppt. (everything else about their life was true ie their relationship with family members and friends). 7/8 were admitted with SZ and 1 was manic depression. upon admittance the ppts stop hearing voices. some experience mild nervousness and anxiety due to it being the first time they had seen the inside of a psych ward. they claimed to be fine, and no longer experienced symptoms.
ppts made notes during their stay (initially it was done secretly but due to the lack of care, they started doing it publicly). they took all medication given to them (but did not swallow it).
give the finding of the research
the stayed for a mean of 19 days. a range of 7-52 days. 7/8 were discharged with SZ in remission (idea that the label is attached and sticky). 35 out of 118 patients on the psych ward suspected the pseudo patients ‘your not crazy. your a journalist whose checking up on the hospital’
staff and patients are strictly segregated. staff have their own living quarters, bathrooms dining area. the average amount of time spent outside of their own staff quarters was 11.3% including chores.
a patient was beaten in front of other patients for approaching an attendants and saying he liked him. when a patient accidentally missed taking drugs they were woken by being shouted at ‘come on you mother fucker, out of bed’
freedom was restricted and privacy invaded as there quarters could be examined by staff at any point
personal hygiene was monitored and toilets had no doors.
give strengths
reliability - standardised procedure
external validity - hospital staff didn’t know that they were being observed
internal - first person account of what happened.
application - lead to reform of DSM 2 to 3
give weaknesses
low generalisability - sample, doesn’t show validity of ICD which is used internationally
low ethics - ppts had to get their own way out of psych ward, experienced high levels of stress and anxiety as they had never been there before.
internal validity - subject, findings may have been manipulated to suit researchers aims.
what is the conclusion
the study shows that DSM is not a valid classification system. it lead to the reform of DSM 2 to 3. it shows the sickness of labelling that ppts were released as SZ in remission showing that they will never fully be ‘normal’. type 2 errors are common - more likely to diagnose someone who is mentally sane and mentally ill as less at risk. mental illness is seen differently to psychical illness ie a broken leg will fix but a SZ will never get fixed. treatment was bad
