What is Schizophrenia?

About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about what schizophrenia is and how it can be defined, focusing in particular on: (i) some common myths surrounding schizophrenia; (ii) the positive and negative symptoms of the condition; (iii) how the classification of schizophrenia has changed following the publication of the DSM-5 in 2013; (iv) a classic study (Rosenhan, 1973) to highlight potential issues with the reliability of a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

About the lecturer

Mr Kevin Silber is a senior lecturer at the University of Derby where he primarily teaches biological psychology modules. Mr Silber is also an AQA A-Level examiner and is involved in authoring texts for A-Level psychology. Having started life as a neuroscientist, Mr Silber’s research interests still lie in biologically oriented topics. However, his main research interest is now focused on body image. Some of Mr Silber’s recent publications include ‘Working memory in children: A developmental approach to the phonological coding of pictorial material’ (2011) and ‘Sexual orientation and the sleep-wake cycle: A preliminary investigation’ (2000).