Dysfunctional Thought Processes (psychological)

Question 1

What did Frith (1992) state?

Answer 1

• cognitive factors are associated with the development of schizophrenia
• symptoms like delusions and auditory halluncinations might occur bc of issues with self-monitoring
• cannot track own thoughts properly
• claim thoughts are ‘not their own’

Question 2

What is metarepresentation?

Answer 2

• the ability for a person to reflect on thoughts and experiences

Question 3

What are the three factors of metarepresentation?

Answer 3

Inability to:

• generate voluntary action
• mointor voluntary action
• mointor the beliefs and intentions of others

Question 4

What did Frith say about schizophrenic patients?

Answer 4

• they are unable to distinguish between actions brought internally or externally

Question 5

What reserach did Frith (1970) conduct?

Answer 5

• gave sz and healthy participants a two choice task
• they had to guess the colour of the next card as either red (R) or black (B)
• sz participants produced stereotypical choices like RRRRRRRR or RBRBRBRB
• healthy participants produced random choices like RRBRBRBRBBB

Question 6

What did Frith’s results suggest?

Answer 6

• schizophrenic patients’ have problems generating immediate actions
• supports the idea that they have a lack of self-control which is caused by cognitive impairments

Question 7

Evaluate Frith’s study.

Answer 7

(+) shows how positive symptoms develop. Cognitive approach highlights why hallucinations and delusions develop bc of metarepresentations

(+) reserach for cognitive model is conducted as lab experiments - highly controlled, scientific, objective.

(-) reductionist

(-) doesn’t account for negative symptoms like speech poverty anf avolition

(-) cause and effect

(-) doesn’t explain what causes sz only a list of developed symptoms

Question 8

What did Hemsley (1993) state?

Answer 8

• healthy people have a good combination of perception and memory but sz patients don’t
• recognised that sz patients have a breakdown between stored information (schemas) in LTM and new information/data
• sz patients cannot access schemas
• sz patients experience sensory overload (cannot choose what to focus on) -> disorganised thinking

Question 9

Evaluate Hemsley’s (1993) theory.

Answer 9

(+) Stirling (2006) support evidence of sz patients processing information differently to healthy people. 30 sz, 18 control. Sz took 2x longer to name colours.

(+)/(-) nature or nuture debate. Dysfunctional thinking caused by environment/upbringing. Or because of biological reasons.

(-) ethical issues need to be considered. Unable to give fully informed consent/withdraw.

(-) doesn’t explain cause of sz only how dysfunctional thoughts lead to symptom development.

(-) Beck and Rector focused on a complex interaction of neurobiological, environmental, behavioural, and cognitive causes of sz. Found that abnormalities in brain can cause sz, leading to dysfunctional thinking.