Cognitive explanations

• Assumption

  The ability to process thoughts is dysfunctional
• Attention deficit theory 


  Firth (1979):

  • suggests schizophrenia is due to faulty attention system unable to filter preconscious though and gives too much significant to information that would usually be filtered
  • overloads mind
  • accounts for positive symptoms
• central control 


  Firth:

  • faulty ability to suppress and override automatic actions and speech

  e.g may see door and have urge to open in —> diffuculty resisting resulting in delusions

  speech derailment - can be explained by inability to resist expressing automatic thoughts
• meta-representation


  ability to identify thoughts and actions as your own

  • faults result in delusions of control - your own actions are being created by outside force
• Supporting evidence

  • Firth - 1992
  • Stirling et al - 2006
  • CBT
• Firth - 1992


  Supported ideas with neuroscience studies
• Firth - 1992 study


  1. 30 schizophrenia patients with various symptoms had PET scans

  2. Indicated reduction of blood flow in frontal cortex with symptoms like avoltion and inability to suppress automatic thoughts

  3. Patients with reality distortion showed increased blood flow in area of temporal lobe responsible for retrieval of memories
• Firth - 1992 study suggests there is a biological difference in schizophrenics brain regions associated with cognitive processes
• Stirling et al - 2006 study


  1. Stroop test on 30 patients with schizophrenia and 18 control patients

  2. Naming ink colours on words without saying the word

  3. Patients with schizophrenia took twice as long to name colour than controls
• Stirling et al - 2006 study suggests patients with schizophrenia have dysfunctional thought processing
• CBT


  Can be effective treatment for psychosis, indicates that cognitive factors are involved in disorder