Rosenhan (1973)

Question 1

Aims

Answer 1

1. To see if 8 sane pseudopatients could be admitted into a mental health hospital
2. To investigate the validity of diagnosis of mental illness and potential bias
3. To discover what life is like inside a psychiatric hospital

Question 2

Pseudopatients description

Answer 2

5 male and 3 female
3 psychologists, 1 psychiatrist, a painter, a housewife
None had any history of mental illness

Question 3

Hospitals description

Answer 3

12 hospitals across 5 states in America

Varied; good/bad, well/short staffed, old/new

Question 4

Procedure

Answer 4

1. PPs called the admissions office and claimed to be hearing voices that said “hollow”, “empty” and “thud”. All PPs were given pseudonyms but all other information about them was true
2. Once admitted, all PPs claimed to have stopped hearing voices and behaved normally, e.g. chatting to other patients
   When given medication they secretly didn’t take it
   During their stay they took notes but could only leave once they’d convinced staff they had recovered

Question 5

Results: Diagnosis

Answer 5

> > 11/12 admissions were diagnosed as schizophrenic and 1 (with identical symptoms) as manic-depressive psychosis
PPs were discharged with diagnosis of schizophrenia ‘in remission’

Question 6

Results: Hospital stay

Answer 6

> > 7-52 days (average 19)
each person given 5 tablets a day
Evidence of depersonalisation, e.g. when patient spoke to nurse: 71% ignored, 23% eye contact, 2% verbal response
staff spent only 11% of time outside the office
common for other patients to detect their sanity, e.g. “you’re not crazy, you’re a journalist”

Question 7

Conclusion

Answer 7

There are validity issues with diagnosis of mental illness (members of hospital staff couldn’t distinguish between ‘sane and insane’)