Cognitive Explanations

Question 1

What is meant by Dysfunctional Thought Processing and what explanation is it for Schizophrenia?

Answer 1

Cognitive Explanation
Emphasises role of ‘faulty information processing’ + claims many patients with SZ have dysfunctional thought processes.
Claims symptoms of SZ due to specific cognitive deficits
Claims patients have meta-representation problems (high level cognitive process) - ability to reflect on thoughts, behaviours and feelings = self awareness

Question 2

Dysfunction in ‘central monitoring system’

Answer 2

Malfunction within the CMS (central monitoring system) explain positive symptoms of SZ (hallucinations)
Bcs of mas attribution errors - inner speech linked to external sources (others’ voice rather than our own inner voice)
Could be seen as auditory hallucination

Question 3

Dysfunction within the ‘supervisory attention system’

Answer 3

Malfunction in the SAS = negative symptoms - don’t initiate speech + responses (speech poverty, flat effect)
Eg not responding to environmental stimuli with appropriate emotion - faulty SAS

Question 4

Dysfunction within insight/ egocentric bias

Answer 4

Patients with SZ have an egocentric bias where everything relates to them specifically - jumpy to false conclusions
Can lead to delusions of grandeur

Question 5

Evaluation 1 for cognitive explanations for sz

Answer 5

Evidence - Bentall (1991) asked ppts to generate category items themselves (animals beginning with B) or read out list of animals - 1 week later ppts asked if they had generated words
-themselves
-read them
-if they were new
Sz ppts with hallucinations performed worse (unable to identify source of words)
= research underlined role of cognition in SZ