Rosenhan (1973) Flashcards
What was the aim of study 1?
To investigate whether sane people could be admitted to a mental institution and whether they would be discovered
What was the aim of study 2?
To investigate whether genuine patients would be mis-identified as ‘sane’ by mental institutions
How many participants were used in Rosenhan’s study?
Eight pseudo-patients including Rosenhan himself
How many hospitals were used in Rosenhan’s research and how did their funding alter?
12 hospitals across 5 states that varied between public, private and university funded hospitals
What 3 words were said by all participants?
Empty, Hollow, Thud
Why were empty, hollow and thud used as key terms?
Thought to meant existential crisis but no literature had linked this to a disorder
What two methodological designs was study 1?
Participant observation and field experiment
What was asked in four hospitals to staff by pseudopatients?
When am I likely to be discharged?
How many hospitals were patients admitted to?
All 12
What were they diagnosed with? What did they leave with?
Schizophrenia - Schizophrenia in remission
What were the lengths of stay within the hospitals?
7-52 days
How many genuine patients questioned the diagnosis of the pseudopatients in the first 3 trials?
35 out of 118 patients
What type error was most commonly seen?
Type 1
What does Rosenhan call it when normal behaviour is stigmatised as a result of mental health diagnoses?
Stickiness of psychodiagnostic labels
What key three behaviours were stigmatised by nurses in the hospital?
1- Pacing = nervous
2- Writing = ‘engaging in writing behaviour’
3- Waiting for food = demonstrating the ‘oral acquisitive’ nature of Schiz
How was powerlessness present in the institutions?
Toilet cubicles had no doors, patient notes were confidential, personal hygiene was monitored
How was depersonalisation present?
Workers would only not do things in the presence of other workers, they weren’t phased about behaviour while in front of other patients
What two things could trigger depersonalisation according to Rosenhan?
1- Staff mentality toward the mentally ill
2- The formal hierarchy of hospitals
What does Rosenhan say the labelling process is?
Counter-theraputic
Why does Rosenhan suggest other medical professionals have an experience similar to his own?
He believes it would increase their sensitivity to the issues faced by those in hospitals
What was the sample of the second study?
Psychiatric staff at a hospital who knew the findings of the first study, 193 patients were judged
What was the design and procedure?
Staff were told that during a three month period one or more pseudopatient would try and gain admission, each staff member was asked to rate them on a scale of 1-10 (10 being genuine patient)
How many patients were said to have been pseudo?
41, 23 by a psych and 19 by a psych + extra
What error was made in study 2?
Type 2 by identifying the mentally ill as healthy
What 3 conclusions did Rosenhan make?
1- Psychiatry can’t accurately diagnose mental illness
2- Psychiatry can’t accurately detect false illness
3- Behaviour in an institution is warped into a distorted manner
