Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T10:03:12.634Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Flattening of Affect and Personal Constructs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

F. M. McPherson ,
Valerie Barden ,
A. Joan Hay ,
D. W. Johnstone  and
A. W. Kushner
F. M. McPherson
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry and Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh 10
Valerie Barden
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry and Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh 10
A. Joan Hay
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry and Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh 10
D. W. Johnstone
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry and Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh 10
A. W. Kushner
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry and Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh 10
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Affective flattening is a disorder of emotional expression, of which a good definition is ‘a gross lack of emotional response to the given situation’ (Fish, 1962). It is a clinical sign whose assessment depends upon the clinician's intepretation of the patient's facial expression, tone of voice and content of talk (Harris ' Metcalfe, 1956). Although these are subtle cues, it has been shown that experienced clinicians can assess the severity of affective flattening with a high level of inter-rater agreement (Miller et al., 1953; Harris ' Metcaife, 1956; Wing, 1961; Dixon, 1968). The disorder is usually associated with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, although it may occur in other conditions, such as the organic psychoses (Bullock et al., 1951).

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 116 , Issue 530 , January 1970 , pp. 39 - 43
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1970 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bannister, D. (1960). ‘Conceptual structure in thought-disordered schizophrenics.’ J. ment. Sci., 106, 1230–49.Google Scholar
Bannister, D. (1962). ‘The nature and measurement of schizophrenic thought disorder.’ Ibid., 108, 825–42.Google Scholar
Bannister, D. (1965). ‘The rationale and clinical relevance of Repertory Grid Technique.’ Brit. J. Psychiat., III, 977–82.Google Scholar
Bannister, D. and Fransella, F. (1966). ‘A grid test of schizophrenic thought disorder.’ Brit. J. soc. clin. Psychol., 5, 95–102.Google Scholar
Bannister, D. (1960) and Mair, J. M. M. (1968) The Evaluation of Personal Constructs, London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Buckley, F. (1969). Flatness of Affect, Thought-Process, Disorder and Personal Constructs. Unpubl. M.Sc Dissert., University of Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Bullock, F. N., Clancey, I. W., and Fleischhacker, H. H. (1951). ‘Studies in schizophrenia.’ J. ment. Sci., 97, 197–208.Google Scholar
Dixon, P. M. (1968) Reduced Emotional Responsiveness in Schizopherenia, Unpubl. Ph.D. Dissert., University of London.Google Scholar
Fish, F. J. (1962). Schizophrenia, Bristol: John Wright & Sons.Google Scholar
Harris, A., and Metcalfe, M. (1956). ‘Inappropriate affect.’ J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiat., 19, 308–13.Google Scholar
Herron, W. G., and Kantor, R. E. (1968). ‘Loss of affect.’ J. Psychol., 70, 35–49.Google Scholar
Kelly, G. A. (1955). The Psychology of Personal Constructs. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
McPherson, F. M., and Buckley, F. (1969). ‘Flattening of affect, personal constructs and vocabulary levd.’ (In preparation).Google Scholar
Miller, D. H., Clancy, J., and Cumminos, E. (1953). ‘A method of evaluating progress in patients suffering from chronic schizophrenia.’ J. Psychiat. Quart., 27, 439–51.Google Scholar
Salzinger, K., and Portnoy, S. (1964). ‘Verbal conditioning in interviews: application to chronic schizophrenics and relationship to prognosis for acute schizophrenics.’ J. psychit. Res., 2, 1–9.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K. (1961). ‘A simple and reliable sub-classification of chronic schizophrenia.’ J. ment. Set., 107, 862–75.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.