Cognitive explanations Flashcards
What are the types of dysfunctional thought processing?
- Lack of central control
- Lack of metarepresentation
They explain positive symptoms
What is central control?
The ability to suppress automatic responses so we can perform deliberate actions
Lack of this causes disorganised speech as automatic thoughts cannot be suppressed from being spoken
What is metarepresentation?
The ability to reflect on thought and behaviour
This allows us to work out the behaviour we are responsible for and our thoughts are not anyone else’s
Allows us to work out the motivation of others
Lack of this causes auditory hallucinations and due to someone else’s influence
What is the Stroop test?
Support for central control
Words with ink that is different colour to the word
E.g. the word ‘Blue’ in red ink
What were the findings of the Stroop test?
Schizophrenic patients took twice as long to name the ink colour as the control group
This supports the central control as they have a problem with overriding automatic responses with deliberate actions
What support is there for metarepresentation?
- Review of research
- Found faulty cognitions in those with schizophrenia
- Delusional patients showed cognitive biases such as jumping to conclusions and lack of reality testing
- Patients with hallucinations tended to experience their own thoughts as voices
(Cognitive explanation are not explanations of causes but symptoms)
