rosenhan

Question 1

what is the aim of rosenhan’s study?

Answer 1

• To investigate whether the sane can be distinguished from the insane
• to challenge the diagnostic system
• to find out what life was like in a psychiatric hospital and raise awareness about conditions

Question 2

describe the sample used in Rosenhan’s study

Answer 2

12 hospitals representing a range of good and bad, old and new institutions across five states in the East and West coasts of the US

Question 3

describe the procedure in Rosenhan’s study

Answer 3

• Each pseudo had to phone the admissions office of one of 12 hospitals and make an appointment because they were ‘hearing voices’.
• At the initial admission meeting they reported hearing the words ‘empty’, ‘thud’ and ‘hollow’.
• Each pseudo gave a false name to protect themselves in the future. For those whose profession was psych related also gave a fake job, but everything else they disclosed was true including significant life events and family relationships.
• All were admitted with a diagnosis of SZ except in one case where the patient was admitted with manic depression with psychosis.
• Once admitted they stopped feigning symptoms and behaved normally, answering all questions from staff and patients honestly except about being part of a study.
• Once settled in they observed life on the ward, were friendly and cooperative, and recorded their experiences by taking notes. They had to try to convince the staff of their sanity in order to get out. They had daily visitors who indicated that they were all behaving normally.
• They measured the length of time patients were admitted to hospital, and some pseudo-patients kept a diary of their experience.

Question 4

describe the findings of Rosenhan’s study

Answer 4

• Average hospital day was 19 days - shortest 7 days and longest 52 days
• Patients suspected that the pseudo patients were sane - one asked if they were a journalist
• 3 pseudopatients had their extensive writing diagnosed as a symptom of their disorder ‘Patient engages in writing behaviour’
• The staff didn’t notice patient behaviour such as hiding pills (2,100).

Question 5

describe the conclusions of rosenhan’s study

Question 6

rosenhan - generalisability

evaluation

Question 7

rosenhan - reliability

evaluation

Answer 7

P - high reliability due to the standardised procedure

E - all 12 pseudopatients said they heard voices saying ‘empty’, ‘hollow’ and ‘thud’, and all asked the same question ‘when will i be discharged’

T - therefore can be easily replicated to check for consistent results + didn’t skew findings due to researchers acting differently

AND

P - However, the reliability of the data is questionable because there was only one pseudopatient recording observations in each hospital.

E - Results found depersonalisation of patients by staff, they were ignored 71% of the times they initiated contact with staff and eye contact was only made 23% of the time.

T - This data may not be objective due to subjective interpretation of staff behaviour by pseudopatients because inter-rater reliability was not carried out to overcome bias.

Question 8

rosenhan - application

Answer 8

P - application to real life as it has led to changes being made to the DSM-III

E -

T -

Question 9

rosenhan - ecological validity

Answer 9

P - High ecological validity

E - They were in a genuine psychiatric hospital observing the day to day behaviour. Furthermore, as none of the hospitals knew they were partaking in a study, behaviour would have been natural and thus, the findings valid.

Question 10

rosenhan - ethics