AIM: To test the hypothesis that psychiatrists cannot reliably tell the difference between people who are sane and those who are insane
1st STUDY METHOD: field experiment. IV was the made up symptoms of the pseudo patients, & the DV was the psychiatrists' admission & diagnostic label of the pseudo patient. 8 sane people, attempting to get into 12 different hospitals, in 5 different states in the USA. There were 3 women & 5 men. They said the voice, which was unfamiliar & the same gender as themselves, was often unclear but it said 'empty', 'hollow', 'thud'. All were admitted, diliked the experience and none were detected.
2nd STUDY METHOD: the staff, who were aware of the 1st, were falsely informed that during the next 3 months more pseudo patients would attempt to be admitted. Staff were asked to rate on a 10-point scale each new patient as to the likelihood of them being a pseudo patient.
This false information was the manipulated IV, & the DV was the number of patients which staff subsequently suspected of being pseudo patients
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