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An experimental phenomenological approach to delusional memory in schizophrenia and late paraphrenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Anthony S. David  and
Robert Howard
Anthony S. David*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College HospitalDepartment of Old Age Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Robert Howard
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College HospitalDepartment of Old Age Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
1 Address for correspondence: Dr A. S. David, Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 9RS
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Synopsis

A preliminary model is described to account for the ‘reality testing’ of memories (after Johnson & Raye, 1981) in an attempt to explain delusional memory. Two routes are proposed: route one involves evaluation of the factual content of the memories against stored general knowledge. Route two relies on the evaluation of the perceptual and narrative characteristics of memories with the assumption that the stronger these characteristics, the more likely the memory is to be real. The integrity of these routes is examined in four patients with delusional memories, using standardized tests. The results suggest that in these cases, general knowledge is essentially intact while the perceptual characteristics of delusional memories are stronger than real memories which in turn, are stronger than fantasies. This could lead the evaluation system to accept delusional memories as true memories despite their implausibility. The roles of rehearsal and affect are probably important in this and require further study.

Type
Preliminary Communication
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , May 1994 , pp. 515 - 524
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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