Attention Deficit Theory

• What does the brain do?

  Constantly receives information from surroundings
• What would happen if we took in all information?

  We'd be overwhelmed and unable to function
• Where does information from the environment go?

  It enters the pre-conscious which is where thoughts occur without awareness.
• What does the brain do with information?

  The information the brain sees as the most pertinent enters the conscious, all else is filtered out.
• Who provides evidence?

  Frith (1979)
• What did they propose?

  Positive symptoms of scz could be explained by difficulties in inhibiting preconscious content due to a breakdown of the thought filtering process.
• What do individuals with schizophrenia have?

  Issues with attention and difficulty filtering out irrelevant from their consciousness
• What could this result in?

  Things in their environment that would normally be taken as irrelevant, being interpreted as more significant then they actually are.
• How can this explain positive symptoms?

  Disorganised timing and speech due to an inability to focus.