Using First-Person Accounts to Teach Students about Psychological Disorders

Abstract

Undergraduate students in abnormal psychology read autobiographical writings supplementing a textbook to help them appreciate the subjective experience of psychological difficulties and see actual examples of symptoms. Forty-one students responded to questions about the perceived quality of their learning from both the autobiographies and the textbook. Students reported that first-person accounts were more helpful than the textbook in increasing their appreciation of what it would be like to have a particular disorder and feel empathy for someone with a disorder.