VERBAL HALLUCINATIONS IN NORMALS, V - PERCEIVED REALITY CHARACTERISTICS

The perceived reality characteristics of verbal hallucinations reporte d by 24 college students were examined and compared to those of 20 hal lucinating schizophrenic patients. The reality characteristics examine d were the seven proposed by Aggernaes [Aggernaes, A. (1972). The expe rienced reality of hallucinations and other psychological phenomena. A cta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 48, 220-238]. These characteristics wer e assessed for the first verbal hallucination ever experienced and for the most recent verbal hallucination. There was no differential patte rn of positive reality characteristics between the two groups for the first verbal hallucination. However for the most recent verbal halluci nation, schizophrenic patients were less likely than college students to report the positive reality characteristic of Publicness and more l ikely than college students to report the positive reality characteris tic of Involuntarity. It was suggested that the verbal hallucinations reported by college students meet the requirements of the definition o f hallucinations. Mechanisms potentially responsible for the productio n of hallucinations associated with normal consciousness were discusse d and differences between psychotic and non-psychotic hallucinations w ere explored. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.