Rosenhan

Question 1

generalisability

Answer 1

Rosenhan’s study aimed to investigate if mental hospitals would notice a misdiagnosis in schizophrenia patients. 7pps (most involved in medicine / psychology)from 5 US states were sent to mental sintitutions. This makes the findings of rosenhan’s study less generaliseable. This is a weakness because any conclusions drawn will not be applicable to non-western US cultures.

Question 2

reliability?

Answer 2

all the pps gave the same symptoms such as hearing voices, and would stop exhibiting the symptoms as soon as admitted to mental hospital. This makes the study more replicable as the study has a standardised procedure (giving same symptoms) and therefore anyone who will replicate will be able to achieve similar results and give reliability to the findings.

Question 3

applicability to current society?

Answer 3

Rosenhan’s study was done in 1973, therefore definitions of abnormality and mental hospitals would have changed since then. Therefore, the findings of Rosenhan’s study may be era bound and not be applicable to today’s society. Further, Slater replicated Rosenhan’s study more recently and found different results. This also suggests that Rosenhan’s study is era bound, and no longer applicable to today’s society.

Question 4

ethics?

Answer 4

pps were discharged froma range fo 7 days to 52 days. This is an ethical issue as the pps had to be discharged to be released from study. This is a weakness as the pps did not have a right to withdraw and could not leave at any given moment. This means that Rosenhan’s study breaches the ethical guidelines of the BPS, and is considered unethical.

Question 5

validity?

Answer 5

pps were sent to different metal institutions, and they all spent under 7 minutes w a psychiatrist every day. This means that the study is set in a natural environment as the pps went to actual mental hospital and did not complete an artificial task. This is a strength as it gives the study ecological validity as it did not take place in artificial environment performing artificial tasks.

Question 6

applicability + usefulness?

Answer 6

all the pps were discharged from the mental hospitals with diagnosis of schizophrenia. Rosenhan concluded that the sane cannot be distinguished amongst the insane in mental hospital. This study has helped to improve diagnosis as it brought attention to the issue. Also, failure to function adequately was developed from this study. Therefore the study has a practical application as it is used to diagnose abnormality.