Classic Study - Rosenhan (1973) - CLINICAL Flashcards
What was the aim of Rosenhan’s 1973 experiment?
to investigate how situational factors can affect a schizophrenia diagnosis
What was the procedure for Rosenhan’s 1973 experiment?
8 confederates acted as pseudopatients in 12 different hospitals - the real participants were the naive hospital staff. Pseudo patients asked the hospital for an appointment before coming in complaining of hearing voices saying “empty”, “hollow” and “thud” which were unclear, unfamiliar and the same sex as the pseudopatient. They also gave fake names, occupations and symptoms but with real-life histories. On the ward, all pretences were dropped and behaved normally whilst writing observations but only discharged once they’d convinced the staff that they were sane.
What were the findings of Rosenhan’s 1973 experiment?
11 pseudopatients diagnosed with schizophrenia and one with manic-depression. No detection of sanity by staff, though nurses reported their behaviour as showing “no abnormal indications” but did interpret this in terms of their diagnosis. The average stay was approximately 19 days with all discharged “schizophrenia in remission”. 35 real patients detected sanity.
What were the conclusions of Rosenhan’s 1973 experiment?
Cannot always detect insanity from sanity as any diagnostic method isn’t very reliable and valid but may not have identified sanity as is less risky to diagnose healthy as sick than vice versa. Normal behaviour is interpreted in the context of illness with some staff reversing diagnoses due to the situation - this is seen to be done when risks are high.
What is generalisability like for Rosenhan’s 1973 experiment?
The validity of psychological diagnosis is low and the DSM is flawed.
The staff of 12 different hospitals localised in the US: cannot be generalised to other cultures outside the US due to societal differences
The diagnostic tool used in the hospital was DSM II - conclusions not representative like others (e.g. ICD)
Variation in types of hospitals (funding, staffing etc.) and so results can be applied to varied institutes
What is reliability like for Rosenhan’s 1973 experiment?
Retest reliability: repeated in 12 hospitals
Little control over the environmental variables - may be impacted by confounding variables
Standardised procedure in terms of symptoms for pseudopatients presented - can be tested for reliability
What is validity like for Rosenhan’s 1973 experiment?
No unnatural behaviour/ demand characteristics
High ecological validity - natural experiment as opposed to a laboratory experiment
High mundane realism - lacking artificiality in real hospitals
What is ethics like for Rosenhan’s 1973 experiment?
Staff members may have felt guilty after the study was taken
Care time is taken away from real patients for pseudopatients
Deception of staff
Lack of informed consent
Cost-Benefit analysis shows that the study did well for society in terms of diagnosis and mental health/care
