A source-monitoring account of auditory verbal hallucinations in patients with schizophrenia

Abstract

Auditory verbal hallucinations are a common and distressing symptom experienced by patients with schizophrenia. They can be understood as arising from an impairment in reality monitoring-the process by which internally and externally generated events are distinguished. This impairment might arise through primary abnormalities in the reality-monitoring mechanism or through secondary mechanisms (abnormalities in the perceptual characteristics of internally generated events or in the perception of externally generated events). This article examines evidence for and against an association between abnormalities in reality monitoring and auditory verbal hallucinations in schizophrenia. A comprehensive review of the psychological literature suggests that there is little evidence for an association between auditory verbal hallucinations and secondary mechanisms leading to abnormalities in reality monitoring. There is some evidence suggesting that hallucinators show a primary reality-monitoring abnormality that is most apparent when patients are required to distinguish self from other in real time. To draw firmer conclusions, however, it is imperative that future studies select patient populations precisely, match control groups, and use consistent criteria for defining hallucinators.