Project PERFECT
This project developed a unique approach to challenging mental health stigma and divisive "us and them" attitudes by shaping public perceptions of cognition, rationality, and mental health.
This project was funded by a European Research Council Consolidator Grant (ERC-2013-Co-G) awarded to Professor Lisa Bortolotti in order to explore the Pragmatic and Epistemic Role of Factually Erroneous Cognitions and Thoughts (PERFECT). The project started in October 2014 and ended in September 2019. The project featured four post-doctoral fellows, two PhD students, and the participation of Dr Michael Larkin from Aston University.
PERFECT aimed to establish whether cognitions that are inaccurate in some important respect can ever be good from a pragmatic or an epistemic point of view. Can delusional beliefs, distorted memories, and confabulatory explanations, which are frequent in the non-clinical population and also listed as symptoms of psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia and dementia, have redeeming features?