Why Do Some People Without Mental Health Problems Experience Hallucinations? Replication Study Casts Doubt On Previous Theories

By Emma Young Hallucinations are a common symptom of schizophrenia and related disorders, but mentally well people experience them, too. In fact, work suggests that 6-7% of the general population hear voices that don’t exist. However, exactly what predisposes well people to experience them has not been clear. Now a major new study of 1,394 people native to 46 different countries, led by Peter Moseley at Northumbria University, provides support for two hypotheses from earlier, smaller studies — namely, that a history of childhood trauma and a propensity to hear non-existent speech among background noise are both associated with experiencing hallucinations — but does not support three others. “In terms of reproducibility, these results may be a cause for concern in hallucinations research (and cognitive and clinical psychology more broadly),” writes the team in their paper in Psychological Science. In firming up a few ideas, the work does, though, help to clarify what aspects of cognition as well as past experience are — and are not — linked to being more prone to hallucinations. The participants came into one of 11 data collection labs (in the UK, France, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Canada, Norway and Australia) or participated online. They completed two scales that measured hallucinatory experiences, such as hearing, seeing or smelling something when there was nothing to explain those perceptions. They also reported on incidences of ch...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Perception Replications Source Type: blogs