Bateson, Jackson, Haley, and Weakla

Bateson, Jackson, Haley, and Weakland (1956) formulated what is perhaps the most famous psychological hypothesis of schizophrenia — the doublebind hypothesis. This hypothesis proposed that psychotic disorders arose out of a history of receiving constant conflicting messages from persons in one’s family. The researchers formulated this hypothesis deductively from what most researchers thought about psychotic disorders at that time. However, this hypothesis failed to find empirical support, and after only a decade of research, most acknowledged this hypothesis was inconsistent with the literature. It was around the time of this recognized failure that the one researcher made the first formal articulation of the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia. Contrary to the double-bind hypothesis, the dopamine hypothesis rested on a foundation of empirical evidence. Various lines of research, such as the mechanism of action of neuroleptic drugs and amphetamineinduced psychosis, indicated that dopaminergic neurotransmission played a crucial role in producing schizophrenic symptoms. These strong data ultimately solidified this hypothesis as the foundation for an entire generation of researchers investigating the etiology of schizophrenia.