The behavioural model

The behavioural model explains schizophrenia through principles of learning, suggesting that symptoms arise from faulty reinforcement patterns rather than innate biological issues. This approach views unusual behaviours as learned responses that are maintained because they receive some form of reward or attention.

Key concepts in the behavioural model

Behaviour in schizophrenia can be understood through two main learning processes: operant conditioning and observational learning.

In typical social situations, people learn to respond to appropriate cues, such as smiling back at someone to start a conversation, because this leads to social rewards like friendship or approval. However, in schizophrenia, this process goes awry. Individuals might receive inappropriate reinforcements, causing them to ignore normal social cues and focus on irrelevant ones instead, such as the brightness of a light in a room. Acting on these odd cues can bring attention from others, which acts as a reinforcement, strengthening the unusual behaviour over time.

Application to institutional settings

In places like psychiatric hospitals, staff might accidentally encourage schizophrenic symptoms by giving more attention to patients who display them. This extra attention serves as a positive reinforcement, making the behaviours more likely to continue. Meanwhile, other patients might pick up these behaviours through observational learning, copying what they see being rewarded in their environment.

The cognitive model

The cognitive model proposes that schizophrenia symptoms stem from fundamental problems in how the brain processes information, rather than these issues being mere side effects of the disorder. This leads to disruptions in key mental functions, which then cause the characteristic symptoms.

Core disruptions in cognitive processing

Schizophrenia often involves problems in several areas:

• Thought
• Perception
• Attention
• Language

According to this model, these are not just outcomes of schizophrenia but active causes. Faulty cognitive mechanisms overload the individual with information, leading to withdrawal or bizarre responses as coping strategies.

Frith's theory on attentional disruptions

Frith (1979) suggested that a breakdown in the brain's attentional filter - a mechanism that normally helps prioritise important sensory information while ignoring the rest - causes the thought disturbances in schizophrenia. Without this filter working properly, individuals become overwhelmed by too much sensory input, leading to confusion and symptoms like delusions.

For instance, in catatonic schizophrenia (a subtype where individuals show extreme withdrawal or immobility), the person might shut down externally to manage the sensory overload, as it's the only way to reduce the flood of information.

Supporting evidence for attentional problems:

• Continuous performance tasks show that people with schizophrenia typically perform worse, showing more errors due to distractibility.
• Eye-tracking tasks reveal that schizophrenics often struggle more than non-schizophrenics, indicating broader attentional deficits.

Additionally, reduced capacity in short-term memory (STM) might explain why some individuals with schizophrenia are easily distracted, as they can't hold onto relevant details amid the overload.

Maher's theory on language abnormalities

Within the cognitive model, Maher (1968) focused on how faulty information processing leads to the strange language use seen in schizophrenia, such as word salads (jumbled, incoherent speech).

Key ideas in Maher's theory

Maher identified "vulnerable words" - terms that trigger personal but irrelevant associations in the individual's mind. When these words appear, the person responds based on their own experiences rather than the word's standard meaning, leading to semantically inappropriate replies.