Thigpen & Cleckley - A Case of Multiple Personality

Question 1

Method

Answer 1

Case Study

Longitudinal = 14 months

Question 2

What is Multiple Personality Disorder?

Answer 2

MPD is where two or more personalities co-exist in one person.

Question 3

Procedure

Answer 3

Interviews with the patient and her family
Hypnosis
Observation
EEG Tests on all 3 personalities
Psychometric and projective tests eg. memory tests, ink blot tests and intelligence tests - on eve white and black.

Question 4

How many hours of interview were there?

Answer 4

100 hours

Question 5

Name of 3 personalities

Answer 5

Eve white
Eve black
Jane

Question 6

Janes personality

Answer 6

More mature, vivid and capable than Eve White

Question 7

Age of Eve White

Answer 7

25 years old

Married.

Question 8

Conclusions

Answer 8

• this personality is showing MPD
• Jane is the psychologically healthiest personality
• not schizophrenia as none of the three personalities show signs of it
• discuss whether Eve white is acting but decide this is not the case as she is consistent in her personalities

Question 9

Where there any controls?

Answer 9

No

Question 10

Quantitative measures

Answer 10

Psychometric tests.

IQ, Weschler memory scale and EEGs

Question 11

Advantage of EEG

Answer 11

Cannot be faked

Question 12

Qualitative measures

Answer 12

Interviews
Hypnosis
Projective tests eg. Rorschach

Question 13

Reliability and validity

Answer 13

• Projective tests need subjective interpretation. Therefore lack reliability as lack of objectivity.
• Lack of validity as MPD is often examined using hypnosis and is increasing in occurrence in the USA but not other cultures.
  Hypnosis could leading questions, tried to hypnosis to understand eve white and then eve black emerged… Jane emerged after session recalling being scalded by hot water as a child.

Question 14

What is Eve Whites real name?

Answer 14

Chris Sizemore

Question 15

Are there confounding variables in this study?

Answer 15

Chris Sizemore revealed she had more personalities before and after 1954 - these were not detected. Therefore the patient may be vulnerable to demand characteristics and give socially desirable answers.

Some personalities may have appeared through hypnosis. The therapists could be putting ideas of different personalities into the patients mind = iatrogenesis.

Question 16

What were the psychometric tests?

Answer 16

IQ
Weschler memory scale
EEG

Question 17

How was this study useful?

Answer 17

It validated the idea of MPD.

Question 18

Advantages of the research method

Answer 18

They obtain lots of detail, therefore helps to understand the client.
Done over a long time period so provides a lot of data, therefore allows time for MPD to appear as you can trace development of behaviour.

Question 19

Disadvantages of the research method

Answer 19

Findings cannot generalise to others.
Lack objectivity when therapists are involved with the patient, as close relationship with the therapist may lead to subjective interpretations of behaviour.

Question 20

Generalisability

Answer 20

Difficult to generalise as they used a single case study.

Question 21

Flaw of the study

Answer 21

Ethnocentric bias as MPD is increasingly common in the USA but not other cultures.

Question 22

Aim

Answer 22

To provide an account of the psychotherapeutic treatment of a 25 year old woman who was referred to Thigpen and Cleckley due to ‘severe and blinding headaches’

Question 23

What did the Wechsler memory tests show?

Answer 23

Eve White to have a superior memory above her IQ.
Eve Black to have a memory the same level as her IQ.
Eve White to have a superior memory to Eve Black.

Question 24

What did the projective personality tests show?

Answer 24

Eve White
> repressive personality
> anxious, obsessive compulsive traits

Eve Black
> regressive personality
> hysterical tendencies

Question 25

What were the subjective observations of Eve White and Black?

Answer 25

Eve White - demure and retiring

Eve Black - childish and egocentric

Question 26

Outline one projective test

Answer 26

• Inkblot test: the individual is shown 10 standardised abstract designs and asked what they look like.
• Responses are analysed to give a measure of emotional and intellectual functioning and integration/the test requires participants to look at 10 standardised inkblots that have been squashed between folded paper and look like butterflies, and then say what they look like.

Question 27

Outline 2 issues with projective tests.

Answer 27

Open to error as they require interpretation.
Projective tests have to be analysed by another individual whose own inner thoughts and feelings may be projected onto their interpretations so the results may not be valid in relation to Eve White’s or Eve Black’s real thoughts and feelings.

Different days, different results.
Projective tests have been shown to be unreliable and Eve White/Black may have interpreted the pictures differently had the tests been conducted on another day/days.

Vulnerable to participants attempts to fake.

Question 28

Weakness of longitudinal research used in this study

Answer 28

The researchers may become emotionally attached to the participant so their observations become less objective + link to study

Question 29

Name 3 changes to this study.

Answer 29

1: The study could be changed from a retrospective longitudinal study to a prospective longitudinal study
2: Increase sample size to 10
3: Make sure that a close relationship between the researcher and participant isn’t formed.

Question 30

EEG Recordings

Answer 30

Jane - 10.5-11.5
Eve white - 10.5-11.5
Eve black - 12-13

Question 31

Ethical problems

Answer 31

Stress might have been caused to Eve White/Eve Black by being interviews for more than 100 hours

Protection form harm: the use of hypnosis during therapy sessions which puts individuals into an altered state of consciousness could have lead one of the Eves to disclose information she would have rather kept confidential