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AS Psychology The Core studies. Individual Differences approach & Psychodynamic perspective. The Three Faces of Eve. A case study Multiple personality disorder Thigpen & Cleckley (1954). The Three Faces of Eve. This is a case study and a record of a therapeutic process.
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AS PsychologyThe Core studies Individual Differences approach& Psychodynamic perspective
The Three Faces of Eve A case study Multiple personality disorder Thigpen & Cleckley (1954)
The Three Faces of Eve This is a case study and a record of a therapeutic process
The Three Faces of Eve Who were Thigpen & Cleckley? • They were psychiatrists (medically qualified) • Their paper was published in the Journal of abnormal & social psychology (1954)
The Three Faces of Eve Who was Eve? • A 25 year old woman who was referred because of her severe & blinding headaches and spells of amnesia • Thigpen & Cleckley tested her with Psychometric tests, projective tests
The Three Faces of Eve In the initial interviews (Eve White) Eve complained of (symptoms) • Blinding Headaches • Blackouts • Marital Problems • Personal problems
The Three Faces of Eve What was Eve White like? • IQ score 110 • Memory - excellent • Repressive personality • Conservative, shy, dutiful • Loving wife and mother
The Three Faces of Eve Then What Happened? Eve White Eve showed amnesia for a recent trip and was hypnotised in order to restore her memory
The Three Faces of Eve Then What Happened? • First sign of something odd!A letter arrived which was written in two kinds of handwriting!
The Three Faces of Eve The letter is objective evidence
The Three Faces of Eve What did Eve say about the letter? She denied writing it, though she did say she had begun a letter which she had not finished
The Three Faces of Eve What happened then? • Eve became distressed and asked “whether hearing voices in her head meant she was insane” • she said that she had heard a voice in her head speaking to her
The Three Faces of Eve This was a critical interview Several times she put her hands to her head as if in pain and then...
The Three Faces of Eve The Transformation! Eve White changed and became Eve Black! 1st ‘alter-ego?
The Three Faces of Eve The Transformation! The therapist noted A quick reckless smile…”hi doc” Eve White now displayed a childishly daredevil air, an erotic glance, even her sitting posture changed Eve White became Eve Black
The Three Faces of Eve What was Eve Black like? • IQ score 104 • Memory - poor • Regressive personality • Childish, extrovert, mischievous • Denied being a wife & mother
The Three Faces of Eve • The therapy lasted 14 months and 100 hours of interviews • Eve Black would sometimes ‘appear’ but could only be called out under hypnosis
The Three Faces of Eve • Eve White was not aware of Eve Black • Eve Black was aware of Eve White • Eve Black had existed since childhood • Eve Black - “would emerge, would behave badly and then retreat and let Eve White take the blame…(parents verified incidents)
The Three Faces of Eve How T & C described Eve Black • “childish, irresponsible & shallow • “seeking pleasure & excitement • “denied marriage to EW’s husband (whom she despised) • “denied relationship with EW’s daughter
The Three Faces of Eve Did her family not notice anything odd? When they observed EB they put her harshness & aggression down to ‘occasional temper tantrums in a normally gentle woman
How did the therapists measure the variables of personality? • Personality tests (psychometric tests) • Rorschach ink blot tests • EW = repressive (Freud) • EB = regressive (Freud) • Electroencephalograms (EEG) to record brain activity)
How did the therapists measure the variables of personality? Rorschach ink blot test = a projective test Discussion: • What do you see? • Is what you see a projection of your unconscious mind? • Is this a quantitative or qualitative measure? • How valid is this measure?
How did the therapists measure the variables of personality? Thematic Apperception Test = a projective test Write a storyline for the pic: • What has been happening? • What is happening? • What will happen? Is your story a projection of your unconscious fears/desires? How valid is this measure?
As treatment progressed • EW headaches recurred & got worse • Blackouts increased • Both EW & EW denied awareness in these blackouts • EW state of mind deteriorated (confinement was considered) Then what happened?
Another personality appears! A Third Personality • Called herself Jane • Jane had full awareness of EW and EB • Neither EW nor EB were aware of Jane
What did Thigpen & Cleckley do? • All three personalities were tested by electroencephalogram • Clear differences were recorded • Therapy continued to treat all three women in the one body
The decision of Thigpen & Cleckley Jane seemed to be the person most likely to bring a solution to the troubled mind She was increasingly dominant over the other personalities
The moral dilemma (ethics) They noted the moral problem The problem of killing one or more of the personalities
Other explanations? • Was the woman a very good actress (were T & C conned?) • Was the woman psychotic (schizophrenic?) • Could the hypnotism have caused the multiple personality effect?
What did T & C conclude? • They did wonder whether they had become so involved that they ‘lost their sense of judgement and over dramatised the case’ • They remain convinced that they witnessed a case of multiple personality Note: A film was made!
Another strange case The multiple personalities of Sybil (see Schreiber 1973) Extract from Film ~ Sybil 3 faces of Eve
Back to the question? What do we mean by personality? • Is personality a stable trait? • What do we mean by • not like himself/herself • s/he’s a changed person • acting out of character
The Three faces of Eve - postscript • In 1975 a woman came forward and said she was Eve White • said she had experienced many other personalities both before therapy and since (22 in all) • that the fragmentation of her personality had been to protect herself from ‘unbearable experiences’
Ethical problems • Killing one/more of the personalities - who should decide this? • Making a film for profit - who benefits & what about patient confidentiality? • During the treatment Eve White got worse. ‘Who’ gives informed consent for the treatment procedures ?
Ethical problems • Which personality do you think T & C approved of most? • Might there be a culture & gender bias issue here? Were their judgements biased by the ‘social norms’ of the 1950s
Questions you should be able to answer • What were the similarities & differences between Eve White and Eve Black? • What is the main difference between multiple personality disorder & schizophrenia? • What problems with the case study method does this study highlight? • What factor(s) may have influenced their diagnosis?
Multiple Personality Disorder • Frequency distribution • 14 cases between 1944 - 1969 • 50 cases in the 1970s ! (6 by Sybil’s therapist) • even more in the 1980s (an epidemic) • the rise & fall correlates with the impact of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory • Mostly in the USA
Research into DID • Research is ambiguous. • 2011 place the prevalence of DID at about 1-3% of the general population • But studies that these guidelines refer to show that prevalence of DID ranges from 0.4% (Akyüz et al, 1999) to 14% (Sar et al, 2007) • studies of all dissociative disorders range from 1.7% (Akyüz et al, 1991) to 40.8% (Ross et al, 2002). • So which is right – less than 2% or over 40%? • And how on earth can anyone be certain of the accuracy of these results? • A review of prevalence studies shows that DID is found in 0.4% to 7.5% of psychiatric inpatients (Sar, 2011). • Rates for outpatients – so people accessing mental health services but on an appointment basis – range from 2% to 6% for DID. • And finally, community studies – so research based on people with no involvement with mental health services, ie ‘Joe Bloggs’ – show the prevalence of DID ranging between 0.4% and 3.1%. . • To put that in perspective, prevalence rates for schizophrenia generally sit around the 0.55-1% range of the general population (Goldner et al, 2002). • So arguably more people have DID than schizophrenia and yet there is more rigorous research, appropriate treatment services, charity support and government investment for schizophrenia than for people with DID
Further reading… • See blog for Discussion points.docx T&C Evaluation Sheet.doc Homework ~ To complete all evaluation material for T and C Watch the videos on the blog for next session