Studies PSYA4

Topic Subtopic Role Name Method Results/ConclusionsAnomalistic Study of Anomalous

ExperienceRigorous attempt to measure ESP

Sargent et al. (1979) Participants made to feel relaxed from the offset. Ppt then given a pre-session q’naire. Ppt was then put in the Ganzfeld position (ping-pong balls etc.) 27 sets of 4 pictures labeled A,B, C & D were randomized in a complicated but thorough way and selected by an independent observer. A standard Ganzfeld procedure ensued.

Of the 12 sessions conducted, 6 were direct hits. This rate of 50% is much higher than the 25% hit rate that is likely to have been produced by chance.

Anomalistic Study of Anomalous Experience

Ganzfeld meta-analysis Hyman (1980) Meta-analysis of 42 pieces of research.

Insufficient evidence to prove the existence of psi because of the flaws in procedure, statistical analysis and security in the Ganzfeld technique.


Ganzfeld meta-analysis Milton & Wiseman (1999)

Studying ESP with the Ganzfeld procedure is flawed because replication is practically impossible.


Ganzfeld meta-analysis (countering M&W above)

Bem, Broughton & Palmer (2001)

Used the same data as M&W(1999)

The hit rate for all such experiments was around 30% rather than the 25% of chance.


Ganzfeld meta-analysis Radin & Schlitz (2002) Claimed to have studied all known Ganzfeld studies.

Hit rate in all Ganzfeld so strong that the odds of chance being the causal factor was around a trillion-to-one


Ganzfeld meta-analysis (countering R&S above)

Harris & Rosenthal Studied double the number of studies as R&S(2002).

Hit rate average of around 28%. They also noted that ESP scores were higher in studies where ppts were treated warmly, and lower when treated coldly: confounding variable.


Revealing large potential confounding variable for ESP research.

Schmeidler (1999) Analysed and conducted studies of ESP that also classified ppts as Sheep or Goats.

There was an above average hit rate for Sheep and below average for Goats.


Rigorous attempt to measure PK without methodological bias.

Schmidt’s Electronic Coin Flipper (1965)

Invented a machine that was based on the decay of radioactive particles (uneffected by temperature, magnetism and many other extraneous varbles) not the control of the experimenter. The machine flipped a coin and subjects were asked to ‘influence’ the coin as either Heads or Tails.

Discovered a statisticaly significant deviance from chance (50:50) of about 4% (54%) when P’s were asked to send their ‘mental energies’ towards the coin.


Recent, longitudinal replication of above.

Jahn (1997) Did 12 years of trials using the same method as above.

With small number of trials the results were just above chance but over 12 years the results were highly significant (1 in 10,000,000,000,000)


PK meta-analysis Bosch et al. (2006) Analysed 380 PK studies.

Small scale studies (eg: on small numbers of P’s) produced highly significant results, whereas studies on large samples found little effect.


Ganzfeld meta-analysis Wooffitt (2007) Found researcher bias in that skeptical researchers didn’t encourage the ‘receivers’ to elaborate their images, whereas those who were believers in psi often did, leading to higher results.

Anomalistic Study of Anomalous Experience (Pseudoscience)

Differences between mainstream and parapsychological journals.

Mousseau (2003) Compared articles in parapsychological and mainstream psychological journals.

Empirical data: Para – 43%, Main – 54%.Experimental method: Para – 24%, Main – 57%.Falsified an idea: Para – 19%, Main – 0%.Cited own previous research: Para – 12%, Main – 0%.

Anomalistic Explanations for Anomalous Experience

Support for the link between neuroticism and paranormal beliefs.

Williams et al. (2007) Tested nearly 300 Welsh school children.

Found a significant correlation between paranormal beliefs and neuroticism.


Expansion on the above study.

Watson & Watt (2004) Conducted an internet-based study, receiving over 4000 responses to their q’naire involving both bad and good luck.

Stronger link found between neuroticism and negative superstitions than between positive.


Support for the link between extraversion and paranormal beliefs.

Peltzer (2002) Extraversion associated with paranormal beliefs.


Support for the link between extraversion and paranormal beliefs.

Honorton et al. (1992) Meta-analysis of 60 studies relating extraversion to ESP performance.

Overall positive correlation found.


Support for the link between fantasy-proneness and paranormal beliefs.

Wiseman et al. (2003) Set up a mock séance. All the ppts knew it wasn’t real and that they were simply acting as if it were. During the séance a stooge claimed that the table had moved (it had not).

After the séance, more believers than non-believers reported that the table had moved, suggesting their deep absorption led them to believe despite knowing it to be fake.


Support for link between suggestibility and paranormal beliefs.

Hergovich (2003) Ppts asked to fill out a q’naire that gave them a score on a belief scale. They were then tested on their suggestibility through the researcher attempting to hypnotise them.

A significant, positive correlation found between suggestibility and score on the paranormal belief scale.


Support for link between a creative personality and paranormal beliefs.

Thalbourne (2001) Meta-analysis of 15 studies.

Correlation between a creative personality and paranormal beliefs identified in each study.


Support for link between ‘sensation-seeking’ personalities and paranormal beliefs.

Kumar et al. (1993) People with higher ‘sensation-seeking personality’ scores had higher ratings for belief in the paranormal and also reported much more experiences.


Support for link between locus of control and paranormal beliefs.

Allen & Lester (1994) Correlation found between an external locus of control and paranormal beliefs.


Expansion on the above study.

Groth-Marnat & Pegden (1998)

Greater external locus of control associated with spirituality and precognition, whereas internality associated with superstition


Support for link between Schizotypy and paranormal beliefs.

Irwin & Green (1999) People who display Schizotypy have a greater tendency to have paranormal beliefs.


Support for link between susceptibility to false memories and paranormal beliefs and experiences.

French & Wilson (2006)

Gave 100 ppts a news coverage q’naire. 4/5 of the items were real events but one was fictitious. Ppts were questioned afterwards.

36% of ppts claimed that they did see the fictitious footage, and those ppts were the ones that scored higher on paranormal belief and experience.


Support for link between susceptibility to false memories and paranormal beliefs and experiences.

Clancy et al. (2002) People who claimed to have experienced alien abduction also were found to be more susceptible to false memories.


Support for link between childhood trauma (representing a desire for control) and paranormal beliefs.

Lawrence et al. (1995) Correlational study using q’naire methods on university students to give a score for childhood trauma and paranormal beliefs/experiences for each ppt.

Reports of childhood trauma were positively correlated with paranormal beliefs.


Illusion of control as an explanation for why people assume causation from coincidence.

Ayeroff & Abelson (1976)

It was found that believers show a greater level of illusion of control.


Expansion for the above study.

Whitson & Galinsky (2008)

Reduced control led ppts to detect patterns where there were none, and form illusionary correlations between unrelated events.


Poor cognitive ability as an explanation for why people assume causation from coincidence.

Gray (1987) Believers found to have significantly lower levels of academic performance than skeptics. Believers also found to perform much worse on tests of syllogistic reasoning.


Expansion/contradiction for above study.

Wiseman & Watt (2006)

Meta-analysis of research into the relationship between cognitive ability and paranormal beliefs.

Found that believers and non-believers differ only in terms of syllogistic reasoning rather than cognitive ability. Many participants who were classified as believers were also high-ranking academics and therefore assumed to be of high cognitive ability.


Explaining the role of repetition avoidance in the link between probability judgments and paranormal beliefs.

Brugger et al. (1990) Repetition avoidance in generating random numbers is used to test probability (mis)judgments. Ppts asked to produce a string of random numbers and the number of repetitions is counted.

In a true sequence of random numbers there are repetitions but people who underestimate probability are less likely to produce such repetitions. Sheep found to avoid producing repetitions more than Goats, illustrating the link between paranormal belief and probability misjudgment.


Support for the link between probability (mis)judgments and paranormal beliefs.

Blackmore & Troscianko (1985)

Ppts asked various questions including the birthday paradox: “How many people do you need in one place for there to be a 50:50 probability of two of them having the same birthday?” Possible answers were 22, 43 and 98.

More goats than sheep got this answer correct.


Support for the link between probability (mis)judgments and paranormal beliefs.

Rogers et al. (2008) Tested probability judgment by giving ppts 16 conjunction vignettes – descriptions of occasions where two events co-occur. Ppts asked to indicate the probability of such events co-occurring.

Sheep made significantly more conjunction errors than goats.


Support for the link between reduced control and superstitious behaviour.

Whitson & Galinsky (2008)

Ppts first asked to recall events in the lives. One group asked to recall events where they felt in control and the other group recalled instances where they felt a lack of control. Later, all ppts were given stories involving superstitious behaviour and asked to judge how much the behaviour affected the outcome of the story.

Ppts who had been made to feel less control were more likely to believe that the outcome of the story was influenced by the superstitious behaviour.


Support for the behaviourist explanation of the formation of superstitions.

Skinner (1947) Placed very hungry pigeons in a cage. For a few minutes each day, a mechanism delivered food pellets to the birds at regular intervals. The birds behaviour had no effect on the timing of the food.

Random behaviours immediately preceded the food and were then observed to persist as ritualistic behaviours. Random behaviours were reinforced by the arrival of food. This superstitious behaviour did not disappear when it was exhibited and no food appeared.


Human support for the findings of the above study.

Matute (1996) Ppts exposed to uncontrollable noises being emitted from the computer they were using in a public library. The noises would stop after a timed interval; no action on the part of the ppts would have an effect on this. After another time interval, this would repeat.

Ppts observed to frantically press several buttons to try and stop the noise. When the noise started again the ppts would repeatedly push the same button they had last pressed before the noise had stopped the first time. They assumed causality when none was present.


An example of magical thinking.

Pronin et al. (2006) Ppts asked to put pins in Voodoo dolls in order to make the target ‘victim’ get a headache. The ‘victims’ (confederates) then acted as though they had a headache. Half the ppts witnessed their ‘victim’ behaving stupidly beforehand so that they felt more annoyed when pushing pins into the doll.

The participants who witness the ‘victim’ behaving stupidly reported that they felt much more responsible for the apparent headaches. This is evidence of magical thinking, the pin pushing and apparent headaches were a coincidence but a person’s awareness of what they were thinking made it appear that their ‘magical’ thoughts were the cause.


Support for the role of Nominal Realism in explaining magical thinking.

Rozin et al. (1986) Nominal thinking is the difficulty experienced separating the names of things from the things themselves. Ppts watched as sugar from a commercial container was poured into two glasses. One glass was labeled sugar and the other labeled poison.

Ppts who observed the pouring were still reluctant to drink form the glass labeled as poison.


Example of the benefits of magical thinking.

Rosenthal & Jacobsen (1968)

Teachers in a school led to expect their students to do better over the course of a year.

Children’s IQ test scores increased over the course of the year. This is a self-fulfilling prophecy.


Example of the costs of magical thinking.

Yorulmaz et al. (2011) Magical thinking found to be a critical factor in OCD. They found, in particular, that people who had a strong belief in magical thinking also reported more checking symptoms of the disorder.


Example of the costs of a lack of magical thinking.

Mohr et al. (2005) Lack of magical thinking linked to anhedonia (inability to experience pleasure) which is also linked to low levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is high in both SZs and believers in the paranormal.

Anomalistic Research Into Exceptional Experience

Evidence for psychic mediumship.

Keen et al. (1999) Described the events of over 500 séances conducted in Scole, Norfolk. The rooms they were conducted in were thoroughly searched and a professional magician was present to identify “tricks of the trade”.

It was reported that objects materialised and flew about the room, voices were heard and all this was captured on film. The professional magician claimed he could discover no evidence of Fraud.


Evidence for psychic mediumship

Schwartz et al. (2001) Tested 5 mediums, filmed by American TV network. 2 women were sitters (1 of them only saw 2 of the mediums). Both sitters were unknown to the mediums, were over 40 and had experienced number of deaths recently. Mediums could not see the sitters and the sitters were only allowed to answer yes or no.

The 2 women judged the accuracy of the mediums statements as 83% and 77%. When same statements given to a group of undergraduates, 36% were rates as accurate, suggesting the mediums’ performance was well above chance.


Evidence expanding psychic mediumship

Wisemen et al. (2003) Mock séance. Believers more likely to be taken in by events.


Evidence for the Barnum Effect (anti psychic mediumship)

Forer (1949) Gave a personality test to his students and told them that he would produce a unique personality analysis for each of them based on the test. Ppts asked to rate each aspect of the analysis on a scale of 0(poor)-5(excellent) in terms of how much it related to them. All of the students had been given the same analysis, which he had copied from a newspaper astrology column.

Most of the students endorsed the statements as being true about themselves, with the average rating being 4.26, i.e. very close to ‘excellent’.


Biological, scientific support for OBEs

Blanke (2004) He experimented on a small group of female participants, administering them small electric shocks to the angular gyrus (an area of the brain).

He reported that doing this triggered out of body experiences for the participants. This suggests that there is a neurological explanation for OBEs.


Belief support for OBEs.

Gow Lang & Chant (2004)

They used a sample of 167 participants and categorised them into ‘believers’ or ‘non-believers’ and where asked to complete a series of questionnaires.

Those who had experienced out of body experiences were more fantasy prone, had a greater belief in the paranormal and showed more somatoform dissociation (all characteristics of believers).


Support for Psychic Healing (Theraputic Touch [TT])

Wirth (1990) Patients who had wounds were treated with TT or nothing.

Those treated with TT healed faster.


Support for Psychic Healing (prayer)

Cha (2001) Looked at the effect of prayer on infertile women.

Found that 2x as many women who were prayed for became pregnant than those who had no praying for them.


Support for Psychic Healing (vitality)

Krieger (2000) He took blood samples from patients before and after healing to see if there had been any fluctuation in haemoglobin levels and these were compared with a control group who were not treated by a healer.

It was found that patients treated by the healer had higher haemoglobin levels and generally felt better than control group.


Support for Psychic Healing (TT)

Keller & Bzdek (1986) Ppts assigned to either a TT or no treatment condition for headache pain. Before the procedure, pain was assessed using the McGill Melzac Pain Questionnaire which quantifies subjective pain for analysis

Following the procedure, 90% of PPs in the treatment group reported lower levels of headache pain.


Support for Psychic Healing

Benor (1992) Meta-analysis of 197 studies into psychic healing.

Significantly positive results for those treated.


Counter-evidence for Psychic Healing.

Rosa et al. (1998) Involved 21 TT practitioners. In this study a TT practitioner sat on one side of a screen, placing their hands through two holes in it. On the other side an experimenter placed her hands about 4” above the practitioners right or left hand.

TT practitioners should be able to detect the energy field of the hand but in fact their performance was not even as good as chance (44%).



Grad (1965) Produced identical wounds on the backs of 96 anaesthetised mice and measured the rate of wound healing on a daily basis. Healer held cages of half the mice daily for 15 minutes over 2 weeks.

After the 2 weeks the wounds of the healed group were significantly better than those of the control group



Harrington (1982) Attempted to see if healer could influence the rate of germination in beans. Measurements were taken of the numbers of beans with visible radicles after seven days.

A higher level of germination had occurred in the experimental group of beans

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Schizophrenia (SZ) Issues with

classification, diagnosis and labelling.

Highlighting validity issues of diagnosis within the DMS-II

Rosenhan (1973) Rosenhan and 7 volunteers (3 women & 5 men in total) presented themselves at different US hospitals. They reported a single symptom, that they heard voices saying ‘empty’, ‘hollow’ and ‘thud’. All were admitted to the hospitals. From that point on they acted normally.

All the pseudopatients were admitted to their respective hospitals where they remained for between 7 and 52 days (mean 19 days). All were eventually released with a diagnosis of SZ in remission. In no case did doctors or nurses notice that there was nothing wrong with them. Normal behaviour was interpreted as symptoms of SZ. However, on several occasions other patients noted that nothing appeared to be wrong with them.

Schizophrenia (SZ) Issues with classification, diagnosis and labelling.

Investigating diagnosis reliability

Pontizovsky et al. (2006)

Looked at the agreement between diagnosis on admission and on release for the 998 patients admitted to Israeli psychiatric hospitals in 2003 suffering from mood disorders.

94.2% of patients had the same diagnosis upon release as they had upon admittance (PPV %). The Kappa figure – which represents the statistical relationship between diagnosis on admission and on release, was 0.68.


Suggests negative long-term social consequences of the diagnostic label SZ.

Rosenhan (1973) Noted behaviour of medical staff towards him after revealed he wasn’t SZic

Found that once the label had been applied, the diagnosis continued to influence attitudes.


Investigating long-term reliability of SZ diagnosis.

Baca-Garcia et al. (2007)

Looked at 2322 patients assessed at a Spanish psychiatric hospital between 1992 and 2004 initially diagnosed with SZ. All patients in this study were assessed at least 10 times.

The PPV for SZ was 69.6% (Kappa = 0.6). Around 2/3rds of the patients retained the same diagnosis. This study shows a better reliability for the diagnosis of SZ than for many other disorders but is still poor.


Demonstrates poor reliability in the diagnosis of SZ

Whaley (2001) Found inter-rater reliability correlations in the diagnosis of SZ as low as 0.11.


Suggests that positive symptoms more useful for SZ diagnosis.

Klosterkotter et al. (1994)

Assessed 489 admissions to a psychiatric unit in Aachen, Germany, to determine whether positive or negative symptoms were more suited for the determination of a SZ diagnosis.

Found that positive symptoms were more useful for diagnosis than negative.


Counters the central diagnostic requirement that ‘delusions must be bizarre’

Mojtabi & Nicholson (1995)

50 senior psychiatrists in the US were asked to differentiate between ‘bizarre’ and ‘non-bizarre’ delusions.

They produced an inter-rater reliability of only around 0.40.


Response to the idea that if cannot be agreed who has SZ, then it is still unknown what it is.

Bentall et al. (1988) Conducted a comprehensive review of research into the symptoms, aetiology (causes), prognosis (outcomes) and treatment of SZ.

It was concluded that SZ was not a useful scientific category.


Illustrates cultural differences in diagnosis.

Copeland et al. (1971) Description of a patient given to 134 US, and 194 British psychiatrists.

69% of the US psychiatrists diagnosed SZ, but only 2% of the British psychiatrists gave the same diagnosis.

Schizophrenia Issues with classification, diagnosis and labelling.

Illustrates the dangers of labelling.

Comer (2003) Once the SZ diagnostic label is applied it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Schizophrenia (SZ) Biological Explanation of SZ

Illustrates a genetic component in SZ

Gottesman (1991) The results of 40 family and twin studies conducted in Germany, Switzerland, Scandinavia and the UK were combined. Studies were chosen on the basis that they were by researchers who were unbiased on the issue of genetics and Sz and they used standard procedures for diagnosis. The information pool was very large, with one study including 4000 relatives and another with 3000

The greater the genetic similarity of relatives, the more likely they were both to have a diagnosis of SZ. For an identical (MZ) twin of a patient suffering from SZ the risk was 48%, whilst for a non-identical (DZ) twin this way 17%. For a child of one SZic parent the risk was 6%; if both parents were SZic this rose to 46%.


Suggests the role of genetic mutation as a cause for SZ.

Xu et al. (2008) Examined the genetic makeup of 1077 people including 152 with SZ and their parents.

A total of 10% of the patients but only 2% of a control group had a mutation that distinguished their DNA from that of their parents, suggesting that around 10% of cases of SZ with no family history can be explained by mutation.


Further support for the role of genetic component in SZ

Joseph (2004) Analysed the pooled data for all SZ twin studies carried out prior to 2001.

Calculated that the data shows a 40.4% concordance rate for MZ twins and a 7.4% for DZ twins.


Attempts to disentangle genetic and environmental influences on the incidence of SZ and strongly suggests and supports the role of a genetic component in SZ.

Tienari et al. (2000) Compared concordance rates of 164 adoptees whose biological mothers had been diagnosed with SZ with 197 control adoptees with no instance of SZ in the family.

Of the 164 adoptees with SZic biological mothers, 11 (6.7%) were also diagnosed, compared to 4 (2%) of the 197 control adoptees.


Shows the results – the SZ definition widening.

Kety et al. (1968) No cases of full SZ found in adoption study


Suggests a neural cause in the form of enlarged ventricles.

Torrey (2002) Brain scans of MZ twins (who share the same brain structure) were compared in the instances where one twin was diagnosed with SZ and the other was not.

On average, it was found that the ventricles of a person suffering from SZ are about 15% bigger than normal.


Illustrates differences in SZics who are found to have enlarged ventricles compared to those who aren’t.

Bornstein et al. (1992) Differences in the nature of the disorders of those who are found to have enlarged ventricles compared to those who aren’t.

People with SZ who have enlarged ventricles found to tend to display negative rather than positive symptoms, and have greater cognitive disturbances and poorer responses to traditional antipsychotic medication.


Shows inconsistencies in the body of research behind the explanation of enlarged ventricles.

Copolov & Crook (2000)

Meta-analysis of over 90 CT scan studies into SZics.

Found a substantial overlap between SZic and control populations in terms of ventricle size.


Suggests that enlarged ventricles are a side effect of medication.

Lyon et al. (1981) Found that as the dose of medication increased, the density of brain tissue decreased, leading to enlarged ventricles.

Schizophrenia (SZ) Biological Therapies for SZ

Suggests that ECT is effective when used with medication but should only be used when responses to other therapies are limited or rapid reduction in symptoms is required for safety reasons.

Tharyan & Adams (2005)

Carried out a review of 26 studies, including a total of 798 participants.

It was found that when ECT was compared with placebo or simulated ECT, more people improved in the real ECT condition. No indication if this was maintained over the medium- or long-term. When ECT was compared with antipsychotic medication treatment, results favoured the medication. There was evidence to suggest ECT + drugs = better.


Suggests that ECT works worse than or as well as placebo in the form of simulated ECT.

American Psychiatric Association Review (2001)

Meta-analysis of 19 studies that compared ECT with ‘simulated ECT’ (where patients are given general anaesthesia but no ECT).

It was concluded that ECT produced results that were no different from or worse than antipsychotic medication.


Counters the “works worse than…” aspect of the above claims.

Sarita et al. (1998) 36 SZ patients were given either ECT or simulated ECT.

Found no difference in symptom reduction between the 36 patients.


Due to the risks involved in ECT it has seen a reduction in use.

Read (2004) In the UK the decline in the use of ECT between 1979 and 1999 was 59%.


Suggests that conventional antipsychotics are more effective than a placebo.

Davis et al. (1980) Meta-analysis of the results of 29 studies (3519 people).

Found that relapse occurred in 55% of the patients whose drugs were replaced by a placebo, and 19% of those who remained on the drug.


Suggests that other factors such as family environment are important.

Vaughn & Leff (1976) Found that antipsychotic medication did make a significant difference, but only for those living with hostility and criticism in their home environment. In such conditions, the relapse rate for those on medication was53%, but for those in the placebo condition the relapse rate was 92%. However, for individuals living in more supportive home environments there was no significant difference in relapse rates between those on medication (12%) and those in a placebo condition (15%).


Suggests that conventional antipsychotic present too much of a risk for continued usage.

Hill (1986) 30% of people taking conventional antipsychotic medication develop tardive dyskinesia, and it is irreversible in 75% of cases.


Suggests that atypical antipsychotics (new) aren’t much more effective than conventional.

Leucht et al. (1999) Meta-analysis of studies into the effectiveness of atypical vs conventional antipsychotics.

Found that 2 of the new drugs tested were only ‘slightly’ more effective than conventional antipsychotics, 1 was ‘as effective’ and the final one was ‘slightly worse’.


Suggests that the benefits of atypical aren’t in their effectiveness, but in their reduced risk.

Jeste et al. (1999) One set of patients on conventional antipsychotics was compared with another set of patients on atypical antipsychotics.

Found that 30% of those on conventional drugs developed tardive dyskinesia after 9 months of treatment. In the same time period, only 5% of those on atypical drugs developed the disorder.

Schizophrenia (SZ) Psychological Explanation of SZ

Suggests that life events and stresses are a possible cause of SZ

Brown & Birley (1968) Retrospective study on relapse rates.

Found that about 50% of people experience a stressful life event in the 3 weeks prior to a SZic episode, while only 12% reported one in the 9 weeks prior to that. A control sample reported a low and unchanging level of stressful life events over the same period, suggesting that it was the life events that triggered relapse.


Suggests that life events make a cumulative contribution to relapse over a long time.

Hirsch et al. (1996) Prospective study in which the researcher followed 71 SZic patients over a 48-week period.

Life events made a cumulative contribution in the 12 months preceding relapse rather than having a concentrated effect in the short time prior to it


Not all evidence supports the role of life events…

Van Os et al. (1994) Patients were not more likely to have had a major stressful life event in the 3 months preceding the onset of their illness. In a prospective part of the study it was found that those patients who experienced a major life event went on to have a lower likelihood of relapse.


Support for the cognitive model of the cause for SZ.

Bentall et al. (1991) Ppts asked to either read out category words (e.g. plants beginning with the letter C) or think of category items themselves. One group had a diagnosis of SZ whilst a control group had no diagnosis. A week later they were given a list of words and asked to identify which words they had read, which were new and which they had thought of themselves.

The group with the SZ diagnosis did significantly worse, suggesting they struggled to distinguish between words they had come up with themselves and those they had heard, which draws a parallel with a SZic’s difficulty with distinguishing reality from imagination.


Supports the idea of a central control problem and helps explain why patients with SZ often have difficulty taking medication. Criticism of medication therapies.

Baker et al. (2006) 25 patients with SZ and a control group of 16 adults without a diagnosis carried out a task in virtual reality. Their avatar was given a prescription for 3 drugs and told to take the correct dose of each drug in 15 minutes. Success in this task was measured by accuracy in the time at which the drugs were taken and the dose of each taken.

The SZ group found the task harder than the control group. They made significantly more errors than the control group in both the timing and dose of the medication administered to their avatar.


Biological support for cognitive claims.

Meyer-Lindenberg et al. (2002)

Excess dopamine linked to working memory.

Schizophrenia (SZ) Psychological Therapies for SZ

Illustrates the benefits of CBT

Drury et al. (1996) Found benefits in terms of a reduction of positive symptoms and a 25-50% reduction in recovery time for patients given a combination of CBT and medication.


Supports and expands on the above study.

Kuipers et al. (1997) Confirmed the above findings but also noted lower patient drop-out rates and greater patient satisfaction when CBT was used in addition to medication.


Shows that CBT has a significant effect on improving the symptoms of patients with SZ.

Gould et al. Meta-analysis of 7 studies into the effectiveness of CBT on patients suffering from SZ.

Found that all 7 studies reported a statistically significant decrease in the positive symptoms of SZ after treatment.


Suggests that CBT may not be suitable for all SZics.

Kingdon & Kirschen (2006)

Study of 142 SZic patients in Hampshire.

Found that many patients were not deemed suitable for CBT because psychiatrists believed they could not fully engage with the therapy. In particular they found that older patients were deemed less suitable than younger patients.


Overview of the effectiveness of psychological therapies (psychotherapy) for SZ.

Gottdiener (2000) Meta-analysis of 37 studies published between 1954 and 1999 covering 2642 patients with a mean age of 31.1 years.

Found that overall, 66% of those receiving psychotherapy improved after treatment, compared with only 35% of those who did not receive psychotherapy. Psychodynamic and CBT just as therapeutic. Psychotherapy just a good with drugs as without. Outpatients improved more.


Illustrates a lack of effectiveness in psychodynamic therapies compared to medication.

May (1968) Found that patients treated with psychodynamic therapy together with antipsychotic medication has significantly better outcomes than those treated with the therapy alone. It was also found that antipsychotic medication alone was also superior to psychodynamic therapy.


Produces contradictory findings to the above study.

Karon & VandenBos (1981)

Found that patients treated with psychoanalytical therapy improved more than those receiving medication alone.


Counters the claim that psychoanalytical therapy is too costly to be adopted on a large scale.

Karon & VandenBos (1981)

Found that the overall cost of treating SZics decreases with the use of therapy because they are less likely to seek institutional treatment and are more likely to gain employment.

Documents

Studies PSYA4