 |
| Research article summary (published 30 Mar 2002): |
Elasticity and confabulation in schizophrenic delusions.
Full Abstract
BACKGROUND:
This experiment examines two aspects of delusional cognition that have been reported clinically but not investigated empirically. These are the incorporation of potentially conflicting information into the recall of delusion-related scripts and the type and amount of material produced additional to that presented for recall, referred to here as confabulation.
METHODS:
Three groups of patients--deluded schizophrenics, non-deluded schizophrenics and matched non-psychiatric controls--were asked to recall two 15-item scripts, which comprised 10 typical and five atypical components. It was hypothesized that deluded subjects whose delusion was relevant to one of the scripts would recall more of the atypical components of the script and would also be less likely to make script-atypical confabulations in the recall of this particular script.
RESULTS:
Recall was assessed for the amount and type of content remembered and the amount and type of confabulation. The results did not support the hypothesis that atypical items would be incorporated into the recall of delusion-relevant material. However, deluded subjects did retain their schema boundaries in the recall of script items relevant to their own delusion but were less able to adhere to a script framework in the recall of material unrelated to their delusion.
CONCLUSIONS:
These results are discussed within a schema specific account of delusions, which conceptualizes the delusion as an overused schema whose preferential use leads to a failure to develop other scripts but whose own contents remain well-defined.
Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills
Author information
Author/s: Simpson, Jane (J); Done, D John (DJ);
Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield.
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Journal: Psychological medicine (Psychol Med), published in England. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2002-Apr; vol 32 (issue 3) : pp 451-8
Dates: Created 2002/05/06; Completed 2002/10/29; Revised 2006/11/15;
PMID: 11989990, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):
Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.
This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.
MeSH headings (categories)
This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.
Related articles
This article has not been indexed for related articles as yet, however you can still use the live related article search links below.
See a large map of 100+ related articles.