Psychological explanations

of
Schizophrenia
Be able to describe and evaluate
psychological explanations of
Schizophrenia

Cognitive explanations
There has been a focus on the role of attention in
Schizophrenia with the idea that people with the illness cannot
filter out sensory information which they are then
overwhelmed by.
The cognitive explanation sees maladaptive or faulty thinking
as playing a key role in this condition.
This faulty thinking could be linked to biological abnormalities
(Hemsley, 1993) which could then lead to hallucinations.

Hemsley 1993
Suggested there was a breakdown between information
stored in memory and new, incoming data.
Our memory stores existing ideas, knowledge and
schemas these are activated by sensory information in
the real world.
This theory suggests that this breakdown in cognitive
processing means sufferers cannot determine what to
attend to and what to ignore. This results in delusional
thinking because the thoughts are not seen as coming
from an internal memory they are perceived to have
come from an external source.

What is a schema?
A schema is an internalised idea or format of
something.
- A tree
- Birdsong
- A bank robbery
If your internal memory doesnt trigger these then
you are over-processing all new information as it
comes into your mind (eyes, ears, nose, finger tips
etc)

Frith (1992)
A similar view to Hemsley suggested
schizophrenia was the result of problems with
information processing.
Suggested that people with schizophrenia have a
problem with central control where it is hard to
distinguish between automatic responses and
intentional actions.
Supported by research. (Frith 1970)
Whats the next playing card.?

Liddle & Morris (1991)

Found that people with schizophrenia perform
poorly on the stroop test.
This suggests that positive symptoms of
schizophrenia could be due to a failure of willed
(intentional) action. This means schizophrenic
behaviour is determined by irrelevant stimuli.
They are unable to distinguish between or filter
sensory information.

Evaluation
It seems that schizophrenia is best understood by linking
different explanations together.
Biological and cognitive explanations seem to compliment
one another and give a more detailed understanding of the
condition.
Including cognitive impairment in the DSM-IV could
improve the success and accuracy of diagnosis by mental
health professionals.
There is evidence that cognitive impairments do not occur
in a set and uniform manner among sufferers. This fits
with the various types and sub-types of schizophrenia.