Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-9q27g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-18T06:32:56.988Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An experimental phenomenological approach to delusional memory in schizophrenia and late paraphrenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Anthony S. David  and
Robert Howard
Anthony S. David*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College HospitalDepartment of Old Age Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Robert Howard
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College HospitalDepartment of Old Age Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
1 Address for correspondence: Dr A. S. David, Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 9RS
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Synopsis

A preliminary model is described to account for the ‘reality testing’ of memories (after Johnson & Raye, 1981) in an attempt to explain delusional memory. Two routes are proposed: route one involves evaluation of the factual content of the memories against stored general knowledge. Route two relies on the evaluation of the perceptual and narrative characteristics of memories with the assumption that the stronger these characteristics, the more likely the memory is to be real. The integrity of these routes is examined in four patients with delusional memories, using standardized tests. The results suggest that in these cases, general knowledge is essentially intact while the perceptual characteristics of delusional memories are stronger than real memories which in turn, are stronger than fantasies. This could lead the evaluation system to accept delusional memories as true memories despite their implausibility. The roles of rehearsal and affect are probably important in this and require further study.

Type
Preliminary Communication
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , May 1994 , pp. 515 - 524
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bradley, M. M., Greenwald, M. K., Petry, M. C. & Lang, P. J. (1992). Remembering pictures: pleasure and arousal in memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition 18, 379–390.Google ScholarPubMed
Buchanan, A. (1991). Delusional memories: first-rank symptoms? British Journal of Psychiatry 159, 472–474.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chadwick, P. D. J. & Lowe, C. F. (1990). Measurement and modification of delusional beliefs. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 58, 225–232.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Christianson, S.-A. (1992). Emotional stress and eyewitness memory: a critical review. Psychological Bulletin 112, 284–309.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Collins, A. M. & Quillian, M. R. (1969). Retrieval time from semantic memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Behaviour 8, 240–247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cutting, J. & Murphy, D. (1990). Impaired ability of schizophrenics relative to manics and depressives to appreciate social knowledge about their culture. British Journal of Psychiatry 157, 355–358.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
David, A. S. (1990). Insight and psychosis. British Journal of Psychiatry 156, 798–808.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
David, A. S. & Cutting, J. C. (1992). Categorical-semantic and dimensional-imagery judgements of non-verbal stimuli in the cerebral hemispheres. Cortex 28, 39–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Folstein, M., Folstein, S. & McHugh, P. (1975). Mini-Mental State – a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research 12, 189–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garety, P. (1991). Reasoning and delusions. British Journal of Psychiatry 159 (suppl. 14), 14–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, M. (1985). Fish's Clinical Psychiatry. Wright: Bristol.Google Scholar
Hashtroudi, S., Johnson, M. K. & Chrosniak, L. D. (1990). Aging and qualitative characteristics of memories for perceived and imagined complex events. Psychology and Aging 5, 119–126.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Howard, R. & Burns, A. (1992). Delusional memory in schizophrenia. British Journal of Psychiatry 160, 129.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jaspers, K. (1913/1963). General Psychopathology (transl. 1963). Manchester University Press: Manchester.Google Scholar
Johnson, M. K. (1988 a). Reality monitoring: an experimental approach. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 117, 390–394.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, M. K. (1988 b). Discriminating the origin of information. In Delusional Beliefs (ed. Oltmanns, T. F. and Maher, B. A.), pp. 34–65. Wiley: New York.Google Scholar
Johnson, M. K. & Multhaup, K. S. (1992). Emotion and MEM. In Handbook of Emotion and Memory (ed. Christianson, S.-A.), pp. 33–66. Lawrence Erlbaum: Hillsdale, NJ.Google Scholar
Johnson, M. K. & Raye, C. L. (1981). Reality monitoring. Psychological Review 88, 67–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, M. K., Foley, M. A., Suengas, A. G. & Raye, C. L. (1988). The phenomenal characteristics of memories for perceived and imagined autobiographical events. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 117, 371–376.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lefford, A. (1946). The influence of emotional subject matter on logical reasoning. Journal of General Psychology 34, 127–151.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lishman, W. A. (1972). Selective factors in memory. Part 1: age, sex, and personality attributes. Psychological Medicine 2, 121–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lynch, G. & Baudry, M. (1988). Structure-function relationships in the organization of memory. In Perspectives in Memory Research (ed. Gazzaniga, M. S.), pp. 23–92. MIT Press: Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Pillemer, D. B. (1984). Flashbulb memories of the assassination attempt on President Reagan. Cognition 16, 63–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maher, B. A. (1974). Delusional thinking and perceptual disorder. Journal of Individual Psychology 30, 98–113.Google ScholarPubMed
Oltmanns, T. F. & Maher, B. A. (eds.) (1988). Delusional Beliefs. Wiley: New York.Google Scholar
McKenna, P. J. (1991). Memory, knowledge and delusions. British Journal of Psychiatry 159 (suppl. 14), 36–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neisser, U. (1982). Memory Observed: Remembering in Natural Contexts. Freeman: San Francisco.Google Scholar
Rubin, D. C. & Kozon, M. (1984). Vivid memories. Cognition 16, 81–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shallice, T. & Evans, M. E. (1978). The involvement of the frontal lobes in cognitive estimation. Cortex 14, 294–303.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schneider, K. (1959). Clinical Psychopathology. Grune and Stratton: New York.Google Scholar
Schooler, J. W., Gerhard, D. & Loftus, E. F. (1986). Qualities of the unreal. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition 12, 171–181.Google ScholarPubMed
Suengas, A. G. & Johnson, M. K. (1988). Qualitative effects of rehearsal on memories for perceived and imagined complex events. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 117, 377–389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tamlyn, D., McKenna, P. J., Mortimer, A. M., Lund, C. E., Hammond, S. & Baddeley, A. D. (1992). Memory impairment in schizophrenia: its extent, affiliations and neuropsychological character. Psychological Medicine 22, 101–115.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Teasdale, J. D. & Forgarty, S. J. (1979). Differential effects of induced mood on retrieval of pleasant and unpleasant events from episodic memory. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 88, 248–257.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Warrington, E. K. (1984). Recognition Memory Test. NFER Nelson: Windsor.Google Scholar
Wason, P. C. & Evans, J. St. B. T. (1974/1975). Dual processes in reasoning? Cognition 3, 141–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1981). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised. Psychological Corporation: New York.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K., Cooper, J. E. & Sartorius, N. (1974). Measurement and Classification of Psychiatric Symptoms. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.Google Scholar