Cognitive Scaffold

Preparing your thinking workspace

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MENTAL MODEL · M1214

Rosenhan Experiment

Rosenhan Experiment
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

The famous 'pseudo-patient experiment'. Normal people feigned auditory hallucinations to gain admission to psychiatric hospitals. Once labeled as 'schizophrenic', all their normal behaviors (such as writing) were interpreted by staff as pathological symptoms.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

- Label trap: Beware of biases brought by 'diagnosis'. In management, once you label an employee as a 'troublemaker', all their explanations will be seen as 'excuses'.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Pseudo-patients were admitted normally but still diagnosed as mentally ill, revealing the dominance of labels and institutional bias in diagnosis.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit

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    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosenhan_experimentZH · Explicit
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