- cognitive model of hallucinations
- A generic term referring to a group of explanatory models that emphasize the role of cognitive rather than biological mechanisms in the mediation of hallucinations. As these cognitive mechanisms are generally understood in the wider context of a neuropsychological framework that incorporates relevant biological factors, the term cognitive model should not be interpreted here as referring to an explanatory model focusing exclusively on mental processes. Traditionally, cognitive models of hallucinations have focused predominantly on the group of * auditory hallucinations. The major psychological mechanisms addressed by these models are an unusual vividness of auditory images in hallucination-prone individuals, the quality of their *inner speech, and default source monitoring of inner speech. However, many cognitive models are multifactorial in nature, incorporating a wide range of mechanisms and coping strategies in their explanatory theses. The American psychoanalyst and founder of cognitive therapy Aaron T. Beck (b. 1921) and the Canadian psychologist Neil A. Rector summarize their cognitive model of auditory hallucinations (designed with reference to individuals with a clinical diagnosis of * schizophrenia) as follows. "The formation, fixation, and maintenance of hallucinations are dependent on multiple determinants: Hypervalent ('hot') cognitions of sufficient energy to exceed perceptual threshold and consequently to be transformed into hallucinations, a low threshold for auditory perceptual-ization exacerbated by stress, isolation, or fatigue, an externalizing bias that reinforces the purported external origin of the voices and resource-sparingstrategiesthathelptofixbeliefinexter-nal origin and diminished reality-testing... The maintenance of hallucinations is, in turn, determined by a range of beliefs: delusions regarding an external agent, underlying core beliefs, and the perceived 'relationship' with the voices. Specific coping responses and safety-seeking behaviors are also implicated." In addition to these cognitive mechanisms, Beck and Rector acknowledge the contribution of biological factors such as neuronal hypoconnectivity, an excessive priming of neurons during adolescence, and "cerebral flooding" with dopamine. Crucial to cognitive models such as those of Beck and Rector is the assumption that cognitions can be transformed into percepts, whereas biomedical models of hallucinatory experience tend to grant cognitions no more than a pathoplastic or shaping role with reference to the content of hallucinations.ReferencesBeck, A.T., Rector, N.A. (2003). A cognitive model of hallucinations. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 27, 19-52. Van der Gaag, M., Hageman, M.C., Birchwood, M. (2003). Evidence for a cognitive model of auditory hallucinations. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 191, 542-545.
Dictionary of Hallucinations. J.D. Blom. 2010.
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inner speech model for verbal auditory hallucinations — Also known as misattribution model for verbal auditory hallucinations. The two names are used interchangeably to denote a hypothetical model attributing the mediation of some types of verbal auditory hallucination (VAH) to a disorder of inner… … Dictionary of Hallucinations
perceptual release theory of hallucinations — Also referred to as dream intrusion, dual input model, and seepage theory. The term perceptual release theory was introduced in or shortly before 1958 by the American psychiatrist Louis Jolyon West (1924 1999) to denote a hypothetical model… … Dictionary of Hallucinations
Parkinson's disease and hallucinations — The eponym Parkinson s disease refers to the British physician James Parkinson (1755 1824), who has been credited with being the first to describe the concomitant disease in 1817. The eponym itself was coined during the 1870s by the French… … Dictionary of Hallucinations
auditory hallucination — Also known as acoustic hallucination, aural hallucination, and hallucination of hearing. Auditory hallucinations are the most prevalent type of hallucinations in adults with or without a history of psychiatric illness. It is estimated that the … Dictionary of Hallucinations
conversive hallucination — Also known as conversion hallucination. Both terms are used to denote a hallucination attributed to * sensory conversion. Sensory conversion is conceptualized as an unconscious process by means of which anxiety, generated by an intrapsychical… … Dictionary of Hallucinations
Charles Bonnet syndrome — (CBS) The eponym Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS) refers to the Swiss naturalist and philosopher Charles Bonnet (1720 1792). It was introduced in 1936 by the Swiss neurologist Georges de Mor sier (1894 1982) to denote a hallucinatory state or… … Dictionary of Hallucinations
expectancy hypothesis of hallucinatory experience — A generic term for a group of explanatory models that attribute a major part in the mediation of hallucinations and illusions to a person s expectations and attentional modulation. As noted by the American psychiatrist Mardi Jon Horowitz (b.… … Dictionary of Hallucinations