Evaluation of diagnosis and classification Flashcards
Who was the psychologist who created a “pseudopatient” experiment?
David Rosenhan
What did the “pseudopatient” experiment test?
The pseudopatient experiment tested the hypothesis that psychiatrists cannot reliably tell the difference between people who are sane and those who are insane
How did David Rosenhan test his hypothesis in the “pseudopatient” experiment?
David Rosenhan had a team of 8 “normal” researchers present themselves at 12 Californian mental hospitals, complaining that they had been hearing voices. Each was admitted and diagnosed as schizophrenic solely based on this claim, which not be proven otherwise
What happened once the 8 researchers were admitted into the hospitals?
Once in the hospital, the 8 researchers ceased to complain of hearing voices and acted normally throughout.
What did the hospital staff do despite the 8 researchers stopping their complains of hearing voices?
Despite the 8 researchers not complaining about hearing voices and acting normally, the hospital staff treated them as if they were mentally ill.
Did any staff or the hospital find out the 8 researchers were “normal”?
None of the 8 researchers were found out
Who were the people who eventually suspected the 8 researchers?
Some of the actual patients suspected that the researchers were sane
What was the overall release duration for the 8 researchers?
How were the 8 researchers released, in what state?
Overall, the release duration for the 8 researchers ranged from 7 to 52 days. Patients released were released as schizophrenics in remission, in the process of recovery
What conclusions can be drawn from this study?
This study suggests that it was not the patients’ behaviour that led to them being treated as sick but the label “schizophrenic” itself that led staff to treat them in this way. For example, the pseudopatients kept noytes of their experiences, but hospital staff interpreted this as a symptom of mental illness. On one pseudopatient’s nursing notes was written “patient exhibits writing behaviour” - writing apparently being a sign of illness
Outline the study conducted by David Rosenhan (pseudopatient experiment)
David Rosenhan had 8 “normal” researchers complain of hearing voices at 12 Californian hospitals, which led to them being admitted as schizophrenic. This was to test the hypothesis that psychiatrists could not reliably tell the difference between the sane and insane.
Upon admittance, the 8 researchers stopped complaining of hearing voices and acted normally. Despite this, hospital staff treated them as if they were mentally ill and none were found out to be “normal”.
Overall, the release duration for the 8 researchers ranged from 7 to 52 days. Patients released were released as schizophrenics in remission.
What is a limitation of the David Rosenhan pseudopatient experiment? (lack of agreement in diagnosis)
Cheniaux et al had two psychiatrists assess 100 patients independently and found huge differences and disagreements in the number of patients they diagnosed as schizophrenic. For example, one diagnosed 26 patients with schizophrenia and the other diagnosed 13 as schizophrenic. This is a weakness of diagnosis of schizophrenia. This shows a lack of cohesion with diagnosis which makes classification even harder and strengthens David’s experiment to show it is not a one off problem.
What is a limitation of David Rosenhan pseudopatient experiment? (co - morbidity)
Co - morbidity is the occurrence of two illnesses or conditions together. If conditions occur together a lot of the time then this is calls into question the validity of their diagnosis and classification because they might actually be a single condition. Buckley found that half of patients with schizophrenia are also diagnosed with depression. The similarities in symptoms between the two imply that doctors may not be accurately differentiating between depression and schizophrenia
What is an evaluation of David Rosenhan pseudopatient experiment? (gender bias)
Schizophrenia diagnosis can be limited by gender biases. Men will tend to be diagnosed more with schizophrenia than women. This may be because women are better at masking their schizophrenia oe because doctors may incorrectly believe that their symptoms are the cause of the stress of having to balance work and home life
What is a limitation of David Rosenhan pseudopatient experiment? (cultural biases + “abnormal” behaviours, normal in other cultures)
Cultural biases refer to the tendencies to over diagnose ethnic groups as having schizophrenia because their typical behaviours might be seen as abnormal by clinicians. African Americans and Afro Caribbean people are more likely to be diagnosed. This may be because doctors do not realise that some symptoms such as hallucinations may be considered normal in their culture or this may be because their majority of psychiatrists who are white may be biased when diagnosing a black patient
