Cognitive explanation- schizophrenia

Question 1

What do cognitive theories say the central feature of schizophrenia is?

Answer 1

Maladaptive thought processes

Question 2

What are cognitive deficits?

Answer 2

• sufferers have problems with attention, communication and information overload
• unable to deal with inappropriate ideas, such as misperceiving voices in their heads as people trying to speak to them, rather than perceiving them as ‘inner speech’ which most people do.

Question 3

How does the cognitive theory say positive symptoms occur?

Answer 3

• due to active cognitive biases (thinking in irrational ways)
• positive symptoms caused by biases in information processing such as a lack of reality testing

Question 4

How does the cognitive theory say that negative symptoms occur?

Answer 4

• occur due to use of cognitive strategies to control the high levels of mental stimulation being experienced
• may experience a greater level of emotion than they physically display- as not expressing emotions is a strategy that’s used control levels of emotions being experienced internally

Question 5

What did O’Carrol find?

Answer 5

• reviewed evidence and found cognitive impairment in 75% of schizophrenics
• cognitive impairments often pre-dated illness onset

Question 6

What was Knoblich’s study?

Answer 6

• Got schizophrenics and non-schizophrenics to draw circles on a writing pad connected to a computer
• asked them to continuously monitor relationship between their hand movements and the visual consequences
• FINDINGS=
  Schizophrenics were impaired in their ability to detect a mismatch between self-generated movement and their consequences

—-> suggests a cognitive inability to self- monitor may underlie core symptoms