Do we need multiple models of auditory verbal hallucinations? Examining the phenomenological fit of cognitive and neurological models
Open accessAbstract
The causes of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) are still unclear. The evidence for 2 prominent cognitive models of AVHs, one based on inner speech, the other on intrusions from memory, is briefly reviewed. The fit of these models, as well as neurological models, to the phenomenology of AVHs is then critically examined. It is argued that only a minority of AVHs, such as those with content clearly relating to verbalizations experienced surrounding previous trauma, are consistent with cognitive AVHs-as-memories models. Similarly, it is argued that current neurological models are only phenomenologically consistent with a limited subset of AVHs. In contrast, the phenomenology of the majority of AVHs, which involve voices attempting to regulate the ongoing actions of the voice hearer, are argued to be more consistent with inner speech-based models. It is concluded that subcategorizations of AVHs may be necessary, with each underpinned by different neurocognitive mechanisms. The need to study what is termed the dynamic developmental progression of AVHs is also highlighted. Future empirical research is suggested in this area.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
AVHs likely take multiple forms, with only some forms explicable in terms of misattributed inner speech.
“A further development has been the recognition that AVHs likely take multiple forms (Jones, 2010), with only some forms of the phenomenon being explicable in terms of misattributed inner speech: others may be better understood in terms of a “hypervigilant” attention to external threat (Dodgson & Gordon, 2009), or intrusions from memory (Michie, Badcock, Waters, & Maybery, 2005).”
From Inner Speech: Development, Cognitive Functions, Phenomenology, and Neurobiology (2015) · cites this paper as Jones, 2010
It is likely that not all AVHs can be linked to inner speech.
“it is likely that not all AVHs can be linked to inner speech (Jones, 2010).”
From Auditory verbal hallucinations as atypical inner speech monitoring, and the potential of neurostimulation as a treatment option (2013) · cites this paper as Jones, 2010
AVHs cannot be treated as one homogeneous group, and may differ both phenomenologically and in their cognitive and neural substrates.
“there is a growing realization that AVHs cannot be treated as one homogeneous group, and may in fact differ both phenomenologically and in their cognitive and neural substrates”
From Auditory verbal hallucinations as atypical inner speech monitoring, and the potential of neurostimulation as a treatment option (2013) · cites this paper as Jones, 2010
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Dementia Praecox or the Group of Schizophrenias
(1951) · Journal of the American Medical Association · doi:10.1001/jama.1951.02920270079043 · Cited by 4,407 · see citing works
(1987) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 2,399 · see citing works
Book Review: Measurement and Classification of Psychiatric Symptoms
Priest, R. G. (1975) · Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine · doi:10.1177/003591577506800751 · Cited by 2,268 · see citing works
Nigg, J. T. (2000) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.126.2.220 · Cited by 1,941 · cited 1× · see citing works
“The first is a failure in intentional inhibition: the ability to deliberately suppress thoughts of an item after deciding it is irrelevant, a process which is effortful and available to conscious reflection.(16) This has been shown to result in intrusive thoughts, which occur more often in patients with schizophrenia…”
BackgroundThe cognitive neuropsychology of schizophrenia
(1993) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.31-0601 · Cited by 1,901 · see citing works
Read, J., van Os, J., Morrison, A. P., & Ross, C. A. (2005) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.2005.00634.x · Cited by 1,534 · see citing works
The Dialogical Self: Toward a Theory of Personal and Cultural Positioning
Hermans, H. J. M. (2001) · Culture & Psychology · doi:10.1177/1354067x0173001 · Cited by 1,488 · see citing works
THE BRAIN’S RECORD OF AUDITORY AND VISUAL EXPERIENCE: A FINAL SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION
PENFIELD, W., & PEROT, P. (1963) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/86.4.595 · Cited by 1,230 · see citing works
Rauch, S. L. (1996) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1996.01830050014003 · Cited by 1,056 · see citing works
THE CONTINUITY OF PSYCHOTIC EXPERIENCES IN THE GENERAL POPULATION
Johns, L. C., & van Os, J. (2001) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/s0272-7358(01)00103-9 · Cited by 960 · see citing works
The auditory hallucination: a phenomenological survey
Nayani, T. H., & David, A. S. (1996) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s003329170003381x · Cited by 710 · see citing works
Intrusive re‐experiencing in post‐traumatic stress disorder: Phenomenology, theory, and therapy
Ehlers, A., Hackmann, A., & Michael, T. (2004) · Memory · doi:10.1080/09658210444000025 · Cited by 645 · see citing works
Experiences of alien control in schizophrenia reflect a disorder in the central monitoring of action
Frith, C. D., & Done, D. J. (1989) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s003329170001240x · Cited by 551 · see citing works
Read, J., Agar, K., Argyle, N., & Aderhold, V. (2003) · Psychology and Psychotherapy Theory Research and Practice · doi:10.1348/14760830260569210 · Cited by 400 · see citing works
Abnormal monitoring of inner speech: a physiological basis for auditory hallucinations
McGuire, P. K., David, A. S., Murray, R. M., Frackowiak, R. S. J., Frith, C. D., Wright, I., & Silbersweig, D. A. (1995) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(95)91435-8 · Cited by 349 · see citing works
Auditory hallucinations: a review of psychological treatments
Shergill, S. S., Murray, R. M., & McGuire, P. K. (1998) · Schizophrenia Research · doi:10.1016/s0920-9964(98)00052-8 · Cited by 313 · see citing works
Hallucinations: The science of idiosyncratic perception.
Aleman, A., & Larøi, F. (2008) · American Psychological Association eBooks · doi:10.1037/11751-000 · Cited by 283 · see citing works
Corollary discharge dysfunction in schizophrenia: Can it explain auditory hallucinations?
Ford, J. M., & Mathalon, D. H. (2005) · International Journal of Psychophysiology · doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2005.01.014 · Cited by 267 · see citing works
Trauma and Hallucinatory Experience in Psychosis
Hardy, A., Fowler, D. G., Freeman, D. H., Smith, B., Steel, C., Evans, J., Garety, P. A., Kuipers, E., Bebbington, P., & Dunn, G. (2005) · The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease · doi:10.1097/01.nmd.0000172480.56308.21 · Cited by 239 · see citing works
A functional study of auditory verbal imagery
SHERGILL, S. S., BULLMORE, E. T., BRAMMER, M. J., WILLIAMS, S. C. R., MURRAY, R. M., & McGUIRE, P. K. (2001) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s003329170100335x · Cited by 237 · see citing works
Alien voices and inner dialogue: towards a developmental account of auditory verbal hallucinations
Fernyhough, C. (2004) · New Ideas in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.newideapsych.2004.09.001 · Cited by 236 · see citing works
Auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia: intrusive thoughts and forgotten memories
Waters, F., Badcock, J., Michie, P., & Maybery, M. (2006) · Cognitive Neuropsychiatry · doi:10.1080/13546800444000191 · Cited by 233 · see citing works
The dialogical self in psychotherapy
Hermans, H. J. M. (2004) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203314616-4 · Cited by 220 · see citing works
Read, J., & Argyle, N. (1999) · Psychiatric Services · doi:10.1176/ps.50.11.1467 · Cited by 218 · see citing works
Childhood trauma and hallucinations in bipolar affective disorder: preliminary investigation
Hammersley, P., Dias, A., Todd, G., Bowen‐Jones, K., Reilly, B., & Bentall, R. P. (2003) · The British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.182.6.543 · Cited by 218 · see citing works
The cognitive neuropsychiatry of auditory verbal hallucinations: An overview
David, A. S. (2004) · Cognitive Neuropsychiatry · doi:10.1080/13546800344000183 · Cited by 207 · see citing works
Neural Basis of Spontaneous thought Processes
Kalina Christoff, A., Ream, J. M., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2004) · Cortex · doi:10.1016/s0010-9452(08)70158-8 · Cited by 203 · see citing works
A Social Deafferentation Hypothesis for Induction of Active Schizophrenia
Hoffman, R. E. (2007) · Schizophrenia Bulletin · doi:10.1093/schbul/sbm079 · Cited by 199 · see citing works
Thought as action: inner speech, self-monitoring, and auditory verbal hallucinations
Jones, S. R., & Fernyhough, C. (2007) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2005.12.003 · Cited by 188 · cited 1× · see citing works
“It has also been argued elsewhere, building on a consideration of the form, function, and development of private and inner speech, that the phenomenology of many types of AVHs are consistent with a basis in inner speech.(8,40) For example, the high frequency of command AVHs, such as ‘‘get the milk’’ or ‘‘go to the hos…”
BackgroundSelf-citationAllen, P., Aleman, A., & Mcguire, P. K. (2007) · International Review of Psychiatry · doi:10.1080/09540260701486498 · Cited by 188 · see citing works
What voices can do with words: pragmatics of verbal hallucinations
Leudar, I., Thomas, P., McNally, D., & GLINSKI, A. (1997) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291797005138 · Cited by 187 · see citing works
Seal, M., Aleman, A., & McGuire, P. (2004) · Cognitive Neuropsychiatry · doi:10.1080/13546800344000156 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
When Self-Consciousness Breaks: Alien Voices and Inserted Thoughts
Perring, C., Stephens, G. L., & Graham, G. (2001) · The Philosophical Review · doi:10.2307/3182607 · Cited by 170 · see citing works
Describing inner experience?: proponent meets skeptic
(2008) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.46-2375 · Cited by 155 · see citing works
Intrusive thoughts and auditory hallucinations: a comparative study of intrusions in psychosis
Morrison, A. P., & Baker, C. A. (2000) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(99)00143-6 · Cited by 143 · see citing works
Copolov, D., Seal, M. L., Maruff, P. T., Ulusoy, R., Wong, M. T. H., Tochon‐Danguy, H., & Egan, G. F. (2003) · Psychiatry Research Neuroimaging · doi:10.1016/s0925-4927(02)00121-x · Cited by 143 · see citing works
Jones, S. R., & Fernyhough, C. (2007) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2006.10.001 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Self-citationContext memory and binding in schizophrenia
Waters, F. (2003) · Schizophrenia Research · doi:10.1016/s0920-9964(03)00221-4 · Cited by 139 · see citing works
Inhibition in schizophrenia: association with auditory hallucinations
Waters, F. (2003) · Schizophrenia Research · doi:10.1016/s0920-9964(02)00358-4 · Cited by 139 · see citing works
Language in the absence of inner speech
Levine, D. N., Calvanio, R., & Popovics, A. (1982) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/0028-3932(82)90039-2 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
Auditory hallucinations: Failure to inhibit irrelevant memories
Michie, P. T., Badcock, J. C., Waters, F. A. V., & Maybery, M. T. (2005) · Cognitive Neuropsychiatry · doi:10.1080/13546800344000363 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Hayward, M. (2003) · Psychology and Psychotherapy Theory Research and Practice · doi:10.1348/147608303770584737 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Hallucinations from a Cognitive Perspective
Larøi, F., & Woodward, T. S. (2007) · Harvard Review of Psychiatry · doi:10.1080/10673220701401993 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Context-dependent information processing in patients with schizophrenia
Bazin, N., Perruchet, P., Hardy‐Baylé, M., & Féline, A. (2000) · Schizophrenia Research · doi:10.1016/s0920-9964(99)00167-x · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Rumination, reflection, intrusive thoughts, and hallucination-proneness: towards a new model.
Jones, S. R., & Fernyhough, C. (2009) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2008.09.008 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Self-citationTrauma, Metacognition And Predisposition To Hallucinations In Non-Patients
Morrison, A. P., & Petersen, T. (2003) · Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1017/s1352465803003011 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Auditory hallucinations: Insights and questions from neuroimaging
Woodruff, P. W. R. (2004) · Cognitive Neuropsychiatry · doi:10.1080/13546800344000165 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Hoffman, R. E., Varanko, M., Gilmore, J., & Mishara, A. L. (2008) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291707002395 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Langdon, R., Jones, S. R., Connaughton, E., & Fernyhough, C. (2009) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291708003978 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Self-citation(2007) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203966013 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Offen, L., Waller, G., & Thomas, G. V. (2003) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/s0145-2134(03)00139-x · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Dialogical engagement with voices: A single case study
Davies, P., Thomas, P., & Leudar, I. (1999) · British Journal of Medical Psychology · doi:10.1348/000711299159934 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Qualitative changes in hallucinations
Miller, L. J. (1996) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.153.2.265 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
The Phenomenological Diversity of Hallucinations: Some theoretical and clinical implications
Larøi, F. (2006) · Psychologica Belgica · doi:10.5334/pb-46-1-2-163 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Voices of Reason, Voices of Insanity
Leudar, I., Thomas, P., & Haddock, G. (2001) · Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1891/0889-8391.15.3.277 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Jones, S. R., & Fernyhough, C. (2006) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2006.06.003 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Self-citationOn keeping (intrusive) thoughts to one's self: Testing a cognitive model of auditory hallucinations
Badcock, J., Waters, F., & Maybery, M. (2007) · Cognitive Neuropsychiatry · doi:10.1080/13546800600753120 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Hoffman, R. E. (2008) · Clinical EEG and Neuroscience · doi:10.1177/155005940803900213 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Is auditory imagery defective in patients with auditory hallucinations?
EVANS, C. L., McGuire, P. K., & David, A. S. (2000) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291799001555 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Brébion, G., David, A. S., JONES, H. M., Ohlsen, R. I., & Pilowsky, L. S. (2006) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.08.009 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
FOWLER, D., Freeman, D. H., Steel, C., & Hardy, A. (2007) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203966013-13 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Talking back to the spirits: the voices and visions of Emanuel Swedenborg
Jones, S. R., & Fernyhough, C. (2008) · History of the Human Sciences · doi:10.1177/0952695107086138 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 6
- Wing JK, Cooper JE, Sartorius N. Measurement and classifi- cation of psychiatric symptoms. Cambridge: Cambridge Uni- versity Press; 1974.
- Waters FAV, Badcock JC, Michie PT, Maybery MT. Audi- tory hallucinations in schizophrenia: Intrusive thoughts and forgotton memories. Cognit Neuropsychiatry. 2006;11:65-83.
- West LJ. A general theory of hallucinations and dreams. In: West LJ, ed. Hallucinations. New York: Grune & Stratton; 1962:278-297.
- Waters FAV, Badcock JC, Maybery MT, Michie PT. Inhibi- tion in schizophrenia: association with auditory hallucina- tions. Schizophr Res. 2003;62:275-280.
- Hardy A, Fowler D, Freeman D, et al. Trauma and halluci- natory experiences in psychosis. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2005;193: 501-507.
- Penfield W, Perot P. The brain's record of auditory and visual experience. Brain. 1963;86:595-694.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Inner Speech: Development, Cognitive Functions, Phenomenology, and Neurobiology
Alderson-Day, B., & Fernyhough, C. (2015) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/bul0000021 · Cited by 808 · see citing works
“A further development has been the recognition that AVHs likely take multiple forms (Jones, 2010), with only some forms of the phenomenon being explicable in terms of misattributed inner speech: others may be better understood in terms of a “hypervigilant” attention to external threat (Dodgson &…”
BackgroundWaters, F., Allen, P., Aleman, A., Fernyhough, C., Woodward, T. S., Badcock, J. C., Barkus, E., Johns, L., Varese, F., Menon, M., et al. (2012) · Schizophrenia Bulletin · doi:10.1093/schbul/sbs045 · Cited by 423 · see citing works
Laroi, F., Sommer, I. E., Blom, J. D., Fernyhough, C., ffytche, D. H., Hugdahl, K., Johns, L. C., McCarthy-Jones, S., Preti, A., Raballo, A., et al. (2012) · Schizophrenia Bulletin · doi:10.1093/schbul/sbs061 · Cited by 315 · see citing works
Longden, E., Madill, A., & Waterman, M. G. (2012) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0025995 · Cited by 248 · see citing works
Functional magnetic resonance imaging of impaired sensory prediction in schizophrenia
Shergill, S. S., White, T. P., Joyce, D. W., Bays, P. M., Wolpert, D. M., & Frith, C. D. (2014) · JAMA Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.2974 · Cited by 163 · see citing works
Childhood trauma and auditory verbal hallucinations
Daalman, K., Diederen, K. M. J., Derks, E. M., van Lutterveld, R., Kahn, R. S., & Sommer, I. E. C. (2012) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291712000761 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
Moseley, P., Fernyhough, C., & Ellison, A. (2013) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.10.001 · Cited by 113 · see citing works
Cognitive mechanisms of auditory verbal hallucinations in psychotic and non-psychotic groups
Badcock, J. C., & Hugdahl, K. (2012) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.07.010 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Functional magnetic resonance imaging of inner speech in schizophrenia
Simons, C. J. P., Tracy, D. K., Sanghera, K. K., O'Daly, O., Gilleen, J., Dominguez, M.-D.-G., Krabbendam, L., & Shergill, S. S. (2010) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.09.007 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Vercammen, A., Knegtering, H., Bruggeman, R., & Aleman, A. (2011) · Schizophrenia Bulletin · doi:10.1093/schbul/sbq007 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Dyck, M. S., Mathiak, K. A., Bergert, S., Sarkheil, P., Koush, Y., Alawi, E. M., Zvyagintsev, M., Gaebler, A. J., Shergill, S. S., & Mathiak, K. (2016) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2016.00037 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
- Authors
- Jones, S. R.
- Affiliations
- Durham University (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Jones, S. R.
- Venue
- Schizophrenia Bulletin
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2008-09-26
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 566-575
- ISSN
- 0586-7614 (ISSN-L)
- 1745-1701
- PMC
- PMC2879699
- OpenAlex
- W2149653819
- Cited by
- 187
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 23
- FWCI
- 0.74
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Schizophrenia Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Hallucinations in medical conditions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Mental Health and Psychiatry
- Keywords
- auditory verbal hallucinations, inner speech
- MeSH terms
- Arousal, Attention, Auditory Perceptual Disorders, Awareness, Cerebral Cortex, Cognition Disorders, Electroencephalography, Hallucinations, Humans, Models, Neurological, Models, Psychological, Mental Recall, Schizophrenia, Schizophrenic Psychology, Speech Perception, Thinking
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
