Clinical implications of a simulation model of paranoid processes.

A shame-humiliation theory of paranoid processes embodied in a successful computer simulation model has clinical implications for the understanding, treatment, management, and prevention of paranoid disorders. The multiplicity and variety of these implications indicate that the theoretical model is more than ad hoc, since it potentially contributes new empirical content to existing knowledge about paranoid disorders. Among rival theories, a more acceptable one is that with a large consequence class, members of which turn out to be true, and that which most effectively serves multiple purposes.