Cognitive Explanations

What are the 2 types of dysfunctional thought processes that Frith identified?

• Metarepresentation

• Central control

Briefly outline what is meant by cognitive explanations of schizophrenia

• The idea that people with schizophrenia process information differently to people without it

• There is a disruption to normal thought processes meaning that people with schizophrenia have problems with the way they think

What is meant by ‘Central control’?

This is the ability to be able to suppress some thoughts that we have and instead perform a different task

Why is central control a problem for people with schizophrenia?

People with schizophrenia cannot control and suppress things that come into their head at times, so they end up saying thoughts out loud, even in the middle of a sentence

Which symptoms of schizophrenia are problems with central control linked to? Why?

• Speech poverty and alogia

• Lack of central control hinders the brain's ability to organise thoughts, leading to reduced speech and slow responses

Stroop test

The Stroop Test is a cognitive task that measures the interference effect, where individuals are asked to name the ink colour of words that spell a different colour

How does Stirling’s research support the central control explanation?

• Found schizophrenia patients take 2x as long as controls to complete stroop test

• Suggesting people with schizophrenia have t

What is meant by ‘metarepresentation’?

• The ability to reflect on our own thoughts and behaviour

• Essentially understanding the thoughts we have daily belong to us and knowing we created them

Which symptoms of schizophrenia does problems with metarepresentation lead to?

• Auditory hallucinations

• As individuals can’t distinguish voices from their own thoughts

Why is cause and effect an issue with cognitive explanations for schizophrenia?

It is unclear whether the faulty information processing causes schizophrenia or is a result of it

Treatments aimed at training patients to improve metarepresentation and central control can reduce the cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia. Why can’t we say difficulties with metarepresentation and central control are the cause of schizophrenia?

• Aetiology fallacy

• Just because a treatment targeting these cognitive processes reduces symptoms, it does not mean they are the underlying cause of the disorder