Multi-Level Models of Information Processing, and Their Application to Psychosis

Abstract

Multi-level models have been developed to illustrate the mind's processing of qualitatively different types of information, and therefore provide a useful tool for exploring the actions and interactions of different processing levels within a single theoretical framework. This paper firstly reviews a selection of multilevel models, and then constructs a detailed rationale for applying a multi-level framework to psychosis. The argument draws on a wide psychosis literature, in the areas of positive symptoms, subjective phenomena, risk factors, and cognitive phenomena. In doing so, the discussion highlights some limitations of current (single-level) cognitive models of psychosis, and argues that a multi-level framework not only offers enhanced explanatory power, but also facilitates an integration of the evidence accumulated in different areas of psychosis research. Implications of a multi-level approach are discussed with regards to understanding the ‘psychotic-like’ experiences of both clinical and non-clinical populations. In particular, the roles of emotional meaning and function of psychotic phenomena are emphasised, and the clinical therapeutic tenet of normalisation is encouraged.

Trauma and Social Pathways to Psychosis, and Where the Two Paths Meet

“…Such "multi-level" trauma processing models have been applied to formulating psychotic symptoms (5,(10)(11)(12)(13). According to Morrison et al (11), unusual perceptual experiences in psychosis, such as hearing voices, may be phenomenologically similar to the perceptual intrusions in PTSD, such as flashbacks; i.e., dissociated and de-contextualized perceptual memories.…”