Classic Rosenhan 1973

Question 1

aim of rosenhan 1973

Answer 1

investigated ‘being sane in insane places’ to test the reliability and validity of the DSM-2 in diagnosing SZ
to understand how mental hospitals treated mentally ill patients in 1970s America

Question 2

sample of rosenhan 1973

Answer 2

8 pseudopatients
12 hospitals across 5 states, including new, old, private and public in the USA

Question 3

procedure of rosenhan 1973

Answer 3

study 1-
covert observation method
to get admitted, the 8 pseudopatients each reported muffled voices saying ‘empty, hollow, thud’, which are not symptoms of any mental disorder and acted as a control to demonstrate the subjectivity of the DSM-2, then once admitted behaved completely normally
this then allowed them to collect information by taking notes on how they were treated

study 2-
told hospitals he may be sending more pseudopatients and then didn’t, so all new patients seeking admission were actually genuine

Question 4

findings of rosenhan 1973

Answer 4

study 1-
pseudopatients spent 7-52 days, on average 19 days, in the ward until the hospitals ultimately acknowledged that their ‘schizophrenia was in remission’
nurses only spent an average of 11.3% of the day outside of the ‘cage’, while doctors came onto the ward only 6.7 times per day on average

study 2-
41 out of 193 real patients who were seeking admission were deemed pseudopatients by staff and turned away

Question 5

conclusions of rosenhan

Answer 5

highly applicable to real life as it gives us an insight into the US healthcare system
type 1 errors were more common in study 1 when hospitals were unaware of being observed yet type 2 errors were more common in study 2 when they believed they were being reviewed
allowed for the revision of the DSM-2 and the development of the DSM-3 edition with greater detail on SZ to reduce subjectivity of diagnosis and advance treatment