COGNTIVE EXPLANATION OF SCHIZOPHRENIA COGNITIVE BIAS (INDIVIDUAL WAYS OF VIEWING THE WORLD) COGNITIVE DEFICIT (LACK OF COGNITIVE SKILLS, PERCEPTION/MEMORY/ATTENTION) A2 Psychology

LEARNING OUTCOMES Outline the cognitive explanations for Schizophrenia Explore the cognitive reasons for Psychotic symptoms Explore and evaluate the scientific model of delusional thinking Explore research which demonstrates a cognitive explanation

RECAP COGNITIVE APPROACH What are the main cognitive assumptions in explaining abnormal behaviour? How do cognitive psychologists study the mind ? Can you name at least 4 functions of the mind ? Can you identify where these functions are located within the brain?

THE COGNITIVE VIEW Agrees with biological view that during hallucinations the brains of people with schizophrenia are producing strange and unreal sensations (triggered biologically) Disorder develops further when individual attempts to make sense of the sensory experiences

I cant concentrate on TV because I cant watch the screen and listen to what is being said at the same time. I cant seem to take in two things like this at the same time especially when one of them means watching and the other means listening. On the other hand I seem to be always taking in too much at the one time, and then I cant handle it and cant make sense of it. (quoted in McGhie & Chapman 1961) A patient describes what it is like to suffer from schizophrenia

WHAT’S GOING ON INSIDE THE ‘BLACK BOX’? People are laughing on the bus There’s something wrong with me

WHAT’S GOING ON INSIDE THE ‘BLACK BOX’? My papers are not where I left them People are trying to sabotage my career

WHAT’S GOING ON INSIDE THE ‘BLACK BOX’? I can’t hear what people are saying My family is plotting against me

A RATIONAL PATH TO MADNESS (ZIMBARDO) 76) People turn to friends and relatives friends and relatives deny the reality of the sensations Sufferers conclude that the others are trying to hide the truth Reject all feedback and develop beliefs that they are being persecuted

COGNTIVE MALFUNCTIONS In a ‘normal’ brain there is a mechanism that filters incoming stimuli In a Schizophrenic brain the mechanism malfunctions and lets in too much stimuli Cannot focus Unable to interpret information correctly World is very different The most dramatic distortions of perception are hallucinations. More often auditory (74%) than visual Can be very frightening

Most symptoms of schizophrenia can be explained in three cognitive processes Inability to generate willed action (that is, any action that is under the voluntary control of the individual) Inability to monitor willed action Inability to monitor the beliefs and intentions of others

These three processes are all part of a general mechanism (called meta- representation) that allows us to be aware of our goals and our intentions and to understand the beliefs and intentions of others. Faulty operation of this mechanism is due to functional disconnection between frontal areas of the brain concerned with action and more posterior areas of the brain that control perception. meta-representation

Frith (1992) attempted to explain the onset and maintenance of some of the positive symptoms of schizophrenia. This is called the faulty filter model. His idea is that people with schizophrenia are unable to distinguish between actions that are brought about by external forces and those that are generated internally. The filter between conscious and preconscious processing breaks down. PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATION: COGNITIVE APPROACH

He has produced some evidence for his ideas by detecting changes in cerebral blood flow in the brains of people with schizophrenia when engaged in specific cognitive tasks Evaluation It has provided a comprehensive framework for explaining many of the symptoms in schizophrenia.  Research support is far from conclusive and the theory is still regarded as speculative.  reductionist, fails to take into account the role of environmental and biological factors.

Hemsley (1993) suggested schizophrenics cannot distinguish between information that is already stored and new incoming information. As a result, schizophrenics are subjected to sensory overload and do not know which aspects of a situation to attend to and which to ignore. When schizophrenics first hear voices and experience any other worrying sensory experiences, they turn to their friends and relatives to confirm the validity of what they are experiencing. Some people fail to confirm the reality of these experiences, so the schizophrenic comes to believe they must be hiding the truth. Individuals then begin to reject feedback from those around them and develop delusional beliefs that they are being manipulated and persecuted. The role of biological factors is acknowledged in this explanation – it says that the condition has always existed, but is worsened by those around them COGNITIVE EXPLANATION

EVALUATION So far there is no clear evidence to support Helmsley’s model. Cognitive theories simply explain symptoms in terms of cognitive deficits they do not explain where the deficits come from so there is not yet a complete theory. The diathesis-stress model (Zubin +Spring 1977) argue that stressful life events could trigger psychotic symptoms providing there is a genetic predisposition. Provides key support for the nature-nurture debate because it represents an interaction.

IS COGNITIVE MALFUNCTIONING GENETIC ? PARK et al 1995 Found memory deficits in both 1 st degree non-schizophrenic families and schizophrenic patients FARAONE et al 1999 Found auditory impairments and suggest there is a predisposing gene for schizophrenia Cannot state why some relatives don’t get it

EVALUATION Unable to explain cause of Sz -Some symptoms can be explained in cognitive terms (Hallucinations and delusions) but need to look at biological explanations for cause Too deterministic - Not all cognitive impairments lead to mental disorders (brain injury from car accident) Frith’s model is too reductionist

Can explain development of delusions as we can form biases that affect how we see the world e.g. someone sexually abused will see the world as a dangerous and threatening place. Although research is still in its infancy – It has been found that Some cognitive impairments are genetically linked (ADHD) but not enough research to implicate schizophrenia therefore difficult to generalise and assess validity EVALUATION

COGNITIVE APPROACH Events in the world PerceptionInferenceBelief Search for new info Source: Bentall (1990)

QUICK QUIZ 1.Name one researcher that looked at a genetic link in auditory impairments in Sz 2.Give two criticisms of the cognitive explanation 3.What are the 3 deficits identified by Frith? 4.Frith’s model attempts to identify the onset and maintenance of which types of symptoms? 5.According to cognitive psychologists what is the difference between a normal brain and the brain of a schizophrenic? 6.In what way does the cognitive explanation agree with the biological explanation? 7.Explain one way in which cognitive psychologists study the brain.

QUICK QUIZ 1.FARAONE et al Found auditory impairments and suggest there is a predisposing gene for schizophrenia 2.Two marks for full answers. there are many 3.Positive - Verbal hallucinations, delusions of control, thought insertion 4.In a normal brain there is a mechanism that filters incoming stimuli. In a Schizophrenic brain the mechanism malfunctions and lets in too much stimuli, 5.Agrees with biological view that during hallucinations the brains of people with schizophrenia are producing strange and unreal sensations (triggered biologically) 6.PET or MRI – 2 marks for full answer