title: Paranoid explanations of experience: a novel experimental study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Paranoia is a common experience in the non-clinical population. We use a novel experimental methodology to investigate paranoid ideas in individuals without a history of mental illness.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to determine whether this paradigm could elicit unfounded paranoid thoughts and whether these thoughts could be predicted by factors from a cognitive model.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-eight individuals took part and completed measures assessing trait paranoia, mood, self and other schema and attributional style. They were exposed to two experimental events: 1) an interruption to the testing session by a stooge, and 2) a recording of laughter played outside the testing room and subsequently asked about their explanations for these events.
  
  
  RESULTS
  15.5% (n = 9) of the sample gave a paranoid explanation for at least one of the experimental events. The remainder reported generally neutral explanations. Individuals with a paranoid explanation reported significantly higher levels of trait paranoia. Factors predictive of a paranoid interpretation were interpersonal sensitivity and attributional style.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results show that spontaneous paranoid explanations can be elicited in non-clinical individuals, even for quite neutral events. In line with current theories, the findings suggest that emotional processes contribute to paranoid interpretations of events, although, as a novel study with a modest sample, it requires replication.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK. catherine.green@kcl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Catherine E L
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Freeman
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kuipers
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bebbington
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fowler
authors.forename: Graham
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.forename: Philippa A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Garety
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003071:Cognition; D003702:Delusions / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010259:Paranoid Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011936:Reality Testing; D012938:Social Perception; D013850:Thinking; D055815:Young Adult