Cognitive processes in auditory hallucinations: attributional biases and metacognition
1University of Wales, Bangor.
Psychological Medicine
|October 30, 1998
Summary
Patients experiencing auditory hallucinations misattribute internal events to external sources, a bias linked to metacognitive beliefs about uncontrollability and danger. These findings support cognitive bias models of hallucinations.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psychiatry
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Cognitive models propose auditory hallucinations arise from misattributing internal mental events to external sources.
- Metacognitive beliefs are implicated in the development and maintenance of auditory hallucinations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine attributional biases in patients experiencing auditory hallucinations.
- To investigate the role of metacognitive beliefs in auditory hallucinations.
Main Methods:
- Comparison of 15 hallucinating schizophrenia patients, 15 non-hallucinating schizophrenics, and 15 controls.
- Utilized an immediate source monitoring task and a metacognitive beliefs questionnaire.
Main Results:
- Hallucinating patients showed a bias in misattributing internal events to external sources.
- Metacognitive beliefs about uncontrollability, danger, and worry were higher in hallucinating patients.
- Beliefs about uncontrollability and danger predicted hallucination experience.
Conclusions:
- Findings support cognitive bias models of auditory hallucinations.
- Metacognition plays a significant role in auditory hallucinations.
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