Psychological Explanations for Schizophrenia

Question 1

Psychological explanations

Answer 1

Psychological explanations for schizophrenia focus on how cognitive and social factors contribute to the development or maintenance of symptoms. Two key approaches are the cognitive model and the family dysfunction model.

Question 2

Cognitive explanations

Answer 2

Cognitive explanations suggest that schizophrenia results from faulty information processing, particularly involving attention, perception, and thought. A core feature is meta-representation dysfunction — the inability to reflect on one’s own thoughts and behaviours, which may cause hallucinations or delusions.

Another is central control dysfunction, which impairs the ability to suppress automatic responses, possibly explaining disorganised speech and thought derailment.

Question 3

Family dysfunction

Answer 3

Family dysfunction explanations propose that the social environment, especially during upbringing, can contribute to schizophrenia. One concept is the double-bind theory (Bateson et al., 1956), where children receive contradictory messages (e.g., verbal vs. non-verbal cues), leading to confusion and anxiety, eventually manifesting as schizophrenic symptoms like delusions.

Question 4

AO3 strengths

Answer 4

The cognitive explanation has supporting evidence. For example, Stirling et al. (2006) compared schizophrenic patients to a control group using the Stroop test, which measures cognitive control. Patients took significantly longer, supporting the view that they have deficits in attention and inhibition — core components of central control.

The family dysfunction model also has supporting evidence. For example, Read et al. (2005) reviewed studies and found that up to 69% of female and 59% of male schizophrenic patients had a history of childhood abuse or trauma. This supports the view that negative family environments can be a risk factor.

A strength of both approaches is their treatment implications. Cognitive explanations support the use of CBT, which helps patients challenge irrational beliefs and improve coping strategies. Family dysfunction theories support family therapy, which reduces relapse by lowering expressed emotion. Both of these are recommended by NICE and show how psychological theories have real-world practical use.

Question 5

AO3 weakness

Answer 5

a limitation is that cognitive theories can describe the symptoms of schizophrenia but often fail to explain their origins. For instance, we can say that delusions may arise from faulty reasoning, but we do not know why these reasoning patterns develop in the first place. This makes the cognitive approach more descriptive than explanatory and suggests it may be best viewed as part of a larger, interactionist model.

evidence for theories like double-bind is largely retrospective and relies on reports after diagnosis, raising the issue of recall bias. Patients may distort or misremember childhood experiences. In addition, many children raised in dysfunctional families do not go on to develop schizophrenia, suggesting that these factors are neither necessary nor sufficient causes.