Cognitive explanations

• Outline the family dysfunction explanation for schizophrenia.


  Proposes that dysfunctional thought processing can cause schizophrenia.

  One type of dysfunctional thought processing that can lead to schizophrenia is dysfunctional meta-representation i.e. the inability to recognise your own thoughts and actions as being carried out by yourself.

  This can explain delusions of thought insertion whereby people with schizophrenia believe that thoughts are being inserted into their mind by other people.
• Outline the family dysfunction explanation for schizophrenia.


  Another type of dysfunctional thought processing is dysfunctional central control i.e. the inability to suppress automatic thoughts and, in turn, speech.

  This can lead to an individual going off topic because words trigger other thoughts that they cannot suppress.

  This can explain disorganised speech whereby individuals with schizophrenia speak incoherently by responding to questions with irrelevant answers or quickly switching topics in a conversation.
• Evaluate the family dysfunction explanation for schizophrenia.


  Research has found that people with schizophrenia take twice as long to complete the stroop test than controls. The stroop test is a test in which participants have to name the ink colours of colour words while suppressing their impulse to say the word. This is a strength because

  schizophrenic’s poorer performance in this test supports the proposal that they have dysfunctional central control whereby they find it difficult to suppress their automatic thoughts and speech.
• Evaluate the family dysfunction explanation for schizophrenia.


  Positive applications when it comes to treating schizophrenia. This is because it led to CBT which aims to change schizophrenics’ distorted thinking into thinking that is more in line with reality. This is a strength because CBT has been found to be an effective treatment for schizophrenia and, if the treatment developed out of the explanation is effective, then the explanation itself must have merit. Therefore adds credibility.
• Evaluate the family dysfunction explanation for schizophrenia.

  Difficult to establish cause and effect. This is because dysfunctional thinking may be an effect of having schizophrenia rather than the cause. This is a limitation because if dysfunctional thinking is not the cause, any treatment developed out of this explanation (e.g. CBT) may not address the root cause. Therefore questions credibility.
• Evaluate the family dysfunction explanation for schizophrenia.


  Lacks explanatory power. This is because it describes the different types of dysfunctional thinking that schizophrenics experience but fails to explain why they have this dysfunction. This is a limitation because it means the theory is not yet fully explained and we still do not have a clear understanding of the root cause. Therefore questions credibility.