Rosenhan (1973)

Question 1

What was the aim of study 1?

Answer 1

To investigate whether sane people could be admitted to a mental institution and whether they would be discovered

Question 2

What was the aim of study 2?

Answer 2

To investigate whether genuine patients would be mis-identified as ‘sane’ by mental institutions

Question 3

How many participants were used in Rosenhan’s study?

Answer 3

Eight pseudo-patients including Rosenhan himself

Question 4

How many hospitals were used in Rosenhan’s research and how did their funding alter?

Answer 4

12 hospitals across 5 states that varied between public, private and university funded hospitals

Question 5

What 3 words were said by all participants?

Answer 5

Empty, Hollow, Thud

Question 6

Why were empty, hollow and thud used as key terms?

Answer 6

Thought to meant existential crisis but no literature had linked this to a disorder

Question 7

What two methodological designs was study 1?

Answer 7

Participant observation and field experiment

Question 8

What was asked in four hospitals to staff by pseudopatients?

Answer 8

When am I likely to be discharged?

Question 9

How many hospitals were patients admitted to?

Answer 9

All 12

Question 10

What were they diagnosed with? What did they leave with?

Answer 10

Schizophrenia - Schizophrenia in remission

Question 11

What were the lengths of stay within the hospitals?

Answer 11

7-52 days

Question 12

How many genuine patients questioned the diagnosis of the pseudopatients in the first 3 trials?

Answer 12

35 out of 118 patients

Question 13

What type error was most commonly seen?

Answer 13

Type 1

Question 14

What does Rosenhan call it when normal behaviour is stigmatised as a result of mental health diagnoses?

Answer 14

Stickiness of psychodiagnostic labels

Question 15

What key three behaviours were stigmatised by nurses in the hospital?

Answer 15

1- Pacing = nervous
2- Writing = ‘engaging in writing behaviour’
3- Waiting for food = demonstrating the ‘oral acquisitive’ nature of Schiz

Question 16

How was powerlessness present in the institutions?

Answer 16

Toilet cubicles had no doors, patient notes were confidential, personal hygiene was monitored

Question 17

How was depersonalisation present?

Answer 17

Workers would only not do things in the presence of other workers, they weren’t phased about behaviour while in front of other patients

Question 18

What two things could trigger depersonalisation according to Rosenhan?

Answer 18

1- Staff mentality toward the mentally ill

2- The formal hierarchy of hospitals

Question 19

What does Rosenhan say the labelling process is?

Answer 19

Counter-theraputic

Question 20

Why does Rosenhan suggest other medical professionals have an experience similar to his own?

Answer 20

He believes it would increase their sensitivity to the issues faced by those in hospitals

Question 21

What was the sample of the second study?

Answer 21

Psychiatric staff at a hospital who knew the findings of the first study, 193 patients were judged

Question 22

What was the design and procedure?

Answer 22

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)

Question 23

How many patients were said to have been pseudo?

Answer 23

41, 23 by a psych and 19 by a psych + extra

Question 24

What error was made in study 2?

Answer 24

Type 2 by identifying the mentally ill as healthy

Question 25

What 3 conclusions did Rosenhan make?

Answer 25

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