SCHIZOPHRENIA: FREEMAN ET AL.

Question 1

Describe the context of the study

Answer 1

• According to Daniel Freeman, he approached a ‘technological revolution in mental health’
• when entering these virtual situations, people are aware that the avatars are not real but they react in a way that is very similar to real-world encounters.
• Previous studies have shown that avatars can trigger emotional reactions in people with anxiety disorders e.g Slater et al

Question 2

Define Persecutory ideation

Answer 2

• This refers to the false belief that people are out to harm you despite there being no evidence/ proof of that being true.

Question 3

What was the aim in Freeman

Answer 3

• He wanted to examine whether neutral, non-threatening avatars could provoke persecutory thoughts in people with no previous clinical diagnoses and whether this was more common in people with higher levels of paranoia and emotional distress.

Question 4

Describe the sample

Answer 4

• 24 in total (12 male and 12 female)
• mean age was 26
• All recruited from University College London
• 21 were students
• 3 were admin staff

Question 5

What type of study was this

Answer 5

This was a correlational study

Question 6

What did the participants do at the beginning of the study

Answer 6

• Participants were trained in how to use VR equipment
• This included lightweight headgear to trach head position
• They also handled joystick which allowed the participant to move around the virtual space.

Question 7

List the quantitative measures they took (questionnaires)

Answer 7

• Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI)
• The Spielberger State Anxiety Questionnaire
• The Paranoia Scale
• The VR Paranoia questionnaire

Question 8

Describe the BSI

Answer 8

• 53 item questionnaire
• assess:
  > Mood
  > Anxiety
  > psychotic symptoms
• in the last 7 days

Question 9

Describe the Spielberger State Anxiety Questionnaire and the Paranoia Scale

Answer 9

• Both are 20-items
• they both measure ideas of persecution and reference

Question 10

Describe the VR-Paranoia questionnaire

Answer 10

• This was created as there was no pre-existing test of situation specific paranoia
• 15-item questionnaire
• measures:
• persecutory thoughts
• ideas of reference
• positive beliefs about the avatars
  EXAMPLES:
  They were hostile towards me
  They had bad intentions towards me
  They were laughing at me

Question 11

Describe what took place during the virtual task

Answer 11

• They explored a virtual library
• There were 5 avatars that sat in 2 small groups
• The avatars were; occasionally smilling, looking over and talking to one another
  Particiapnts were told:
• to explore the room
• try to form some impresson of what they think about the people in the room
• What the avatars think of them

Question 12

How were particpants split for the questionnaires

Answer 12

The first half completed the questionnaires before the virtual task while the second half completed them after the virtual task. The first half completed them for the second time
ALL participants completed the VR-paranoia

Question 13

Describe the qualitative measure in the study

Answer 13

• At the end of the study, all participants were interviewed through a semi-structured
• They were interviewed about their experiences and feelings of distress
• Later, a clinical psychologist watched the videotaped interviews and rated them out of 6 for indications of persecutory ideation

Question 14

State 3 results from the study

Answer 14

• The mean paranoia score was 31.8 with no significant difference between male and female
• There was a positive correlation between persecutory thoughts in the questionnaire and the interviews
• There was a positive correlation between VR persecutory ideation and interpersonal sensitivity (BSI)

Question 15

State 2 conclusions

Answer 15

• Emotions linked to anxiety and interpersonal sensitivity contribute directly to the development of persecutory ideation.
• VR is a great tool that can help us understand and help inidividuals reduce persecutory ideation

Question 16

State the 3 methodological strength

Answer 16

• A strength is that half the participants answered the BSI, paranoia and anxiety questionnaires before and after their time in the virtual room. This was done to see whether completing the questionnaire prompted them to experience persecutory thoughts. This was not the case suggesting that the thoughts were triggered by the avatars alone.
• Anxiety scores were very similar before and after the VR task showing that there was no long lasting psychological harm
• All gave their consent however it was not fully informed. This was justified due to the potenital benefits to society

Question 17

State 2 methodological weaknesses

Answer 17

• Participants felt that they did not feel present in the virtual library. This was measured through a 6-point scale and the higher the score, the more present they felt. The score was 2/6. This lowers ecological validity and also may be due to a shorter duration in the room.
• There was sampling bias. All were drawn from a London university. They were relatively young (mean age=26) and so low generalizability

Question 18

Idiographic v nomothetic

Answer 18

Nomothetic:
- Quantitative data was collected using the VR paranoia self report. It had a 4-point scale which allowed for statistical analysis in order to draw conclusions and can therefore generalize to the target population

Idiographic:
- Qualitative data through the interviews

Question 19

Application to everyday life

Answer 19

• A strength is that the study can underpin the development of psychotic symptoms
• We can esplore how people interpret mental states in others using VR setting
• VR therapies can help people focus on developing new ways of interacting in the real world

Question 20

Individual v Situational

Answer 20

Individual:
- The questionnaires measured related to individual explanations i.e the Spielberger state anxiety questionnaire saw that certain people are more vulnerable to developing psychotic symptoms

Situational:
- VR research can also reveal environmental factors are associated with persecutory thoughts. Virtual environments could help identify factors which make such thoughts more or less likely.