On being sane in insane places - Rosenhan, D.L. (1973)
Have you ever had a reputation for something that you didn't like? Was it difficult to change people's minds? Have you ever made up your mind about a person before you've met them properly, based only on a rumour you've heard? We are all guilty of labelling people all the time. But what if you were labelled as 'insane'? How would you prove that you weren't mad?
Big Issue - The Individual Differences ApproachSee the 'Individual Differences' page for information and evaluation on the approach.
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Don't forget the second study...
Arguably the most ingenious and certainly the most mischievous part of Rosenhan's paper is the second study he reported, involving "a research and teaching hospital whose staff had heard these findings but doubted that such an error could occur in their hospital."
Don't forget this second study when discussing Rosenhan's conclusions and applications, as it shows that therapists' diagnosis can be manipulated the other way as well! When they are primed to be more careful, they can be made to make the opposite mistake that that they did in the first study.
This shows very clearly that the diagnosis of mental illness is hugely influenced by labelling, and that by altering the label that they are likely to give to a newly arrived patient, they could alter the disgnosis that they were likely to get. As Rosenhan is careful to point out, it does not imply that the doctors are hopeless, merely that the label makes a big difference to the diagnosis, and the second study is crucial in illustrating this conclusively.
Don't forget this second study when discussing Rosenhan's conclusions and applications, as it shows that therapists' diagnosis can be manipulated the other way as well! When they are primed to be more careful, they can be made to make the opposite mistake that that they did in the first study.
This shows very clearly that the diagnosis of mental illness is hugely influenced by labelling, and that by altering the label that they are likely to give to a newly arrived patient, they could alter the disgnosis that they were likely to get. As Rosenhan is careful to point out, it does not imply that the doctors are hopeless, merely that the label makes a big difference to the diagnosis, and the second study is crucial in illustrating this conclusively.
Assignment 1 - Alternative study - Rosenhan as an experimentRosenhan et al conducted a (naturalistic) participant observation. An alternative study method might have been to perform a laboratory experiment.
1. Describe types of observation in Psychology research. (5) 2. How could they have conducted an experiment with a similar aim, but in a lab? (10) 3. What would the advantages and disadvantages of such an experiment be, compared to the original? (10) Write a description of the study, including the who, what, where and how. Submit it through the form on the home page. If you are really struggling to think of anything, a nice idea for an experiment is given in this Claudia Hammond 'Mind Changers' podcast for the BBC. Try to think of your own one first though! Assignment 2 - You are the examinerThe document below is an essay written about the ecological validity of Rosenhan's study.
Read the essay and then use the mark scheme given to come up with a score for it. Post your score, plus a justification for your mark, in the appropriate document in the shared Google drive.
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"Relax ladies, I'm a scientist!" Participant observations throughout the agesRosenhan conducted a participant observation, where the researcher became a part of the group that they were observing. This is a very interesting technique, with some major advantages and disadvantages.
A nice summary of some of the reasons why participant observations are not used very frequently any more can be found here. The same blog (Mindhacks) also published this account of a hilarious participant observation from the 1930s where researchers hid under beds to listen to conversations!.
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RevisionWatch the video, then complete the study description in as much detail as you can without notes.
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ExtensionLabelling in educationThis video is worried about the potentially harmful effects of labelling children with special needs conditions. Do agree that being diagnosed with a condition can be more harmful than it is helpful?
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