Consciousness, Information Processing and Schizophrenia
C. D. Frith
The British Journal of Psychiatry March 1, 1979 DOI: 10.1192/bjp.134.3.225 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that schizophrenia symptoms result from a defect in the mechanism that controls and limits the contents of consciousness, producing excessive self-awareness in which normally non-conscious information processing becomes conscious. The authors contend this excessive awareness can account for typical symptoms and many specific cognitive abnormalities in schizophrenia, without the processing itself being abnormal. |
Abstract
SummaryThe symptoms of schizophrenia can be interpreted as the result of a defect in the mechanism that controls and limits the contents of consciousness. This defect can be understood as excessive self-awareness. Normally most of the complex information processing which is continuously required by even simple acts of perception, language and thought goes on below the level of awareness; whereas in schizophrenic patients some of this processing, or the results of this processing, not in themselves abnormal, become conscious. This excessive awareness can account for the typical symptoms of schizophrenia and explains many of the specific cognitive abnormalities found in schizophrenic patients.
Citations in the library
Cited by 34
- The Disorder of Consciousness in Schizophrenia Schizophrenia Bulletin 1987
- Thought insertion as a self-disturbance: An integration of predictive coding and phenomenological approaches Frontiers in Human Neuroscience December 22, 2016
- Is Schizophrenia a Disorder of Consciousness? Experimental and Phenomenological Support for Anomalous Unconscious Processing. Frontiers in Psychology 2017
- Computational models of the "active self" and its disturbances in schizophrenia. Consciousness and Cognition August 1, 2021
- The elusive quale Behavioral and Brain Sciences December 1, 1995
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