Open Questions

Did all eight of the pseudopatients David Rosenhan described in his 1973 "On Being Sane in Insane Places" study genuinely exist and undergo the hospitalizations as published?

Citation Formats

General Reference

Psychology Atlas. "Did all eight of the pseudopatients David Rosenhan described in his 1973 "On Being Sane in Insane Places" study genuinely exist and undergo the hospitalizations as published?." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://psychology.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/did-all-of-rosenhans-pseudopatients-exist.

APA Style

Psychology Atlas. (n.d.). Did all eight of the pseudopatients David Rosenhan described in his 1973 "On Being Sane in Insane Places" study genuinely exist and undergo the hospitalizations as published?. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://psychology.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/did-all-of-rosenhans-pseudopatients-exist

BibTeX

@misc{psychologyatlas-did-all-eight-of-the-pseudopatients-davi,
  author = {Psychology Atlas},
  title = {Did all eight of the pseudopatients David Rosenhan described in his 1973 "On Being Sane in Insane Places" study genuinely exist and undergo the hospitalizations as published?},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://psychology.interactiveatlas.org/open-questions-index/did-all-of-rosenhans-pseudopatients-exist},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Open Question

Susannah Cahalan's 2019 archival investigation (The Great Pretender) could confirm only two of the eight claimed pseudopatients, Rosenhan himself and one graduate student whose own account allegedly conflicts with the published article, and found other inconsistencies and apparently fabricated quotations in Rosenhan's papers.

What would resolve this Identification and independent corroboration (hospital admission records, first-person testimony) of the six remaining pseudopatients Rosenhan claimed but never named.

OpenHistory of PsychologyWikipedia: Rosenhan Experiment

Cross-Tradition Connections

Question On

Rosenhan Experiment

Source Wikipedia: Rosenhan Experiment

Sources

Wikipedia: Rosenhan Experiment

Wikimedia FoundationAccusation of fraud sectionView the Source

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