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Do patients with schizophrenia attribute mental states in a referential communication task?
Maud Champagne-Lavau1, Marion Fossard, Guillaume Martel
1Hôpital du Sacré-Caeur de Montréal, Pavillon Albert-Prévost, 6555 Gouin Blvd. West, Montreal, Quebec H4K 1B3, Canada. M-Champagne@crhsc.rtss.qc.ca
Cognitive Neuropsychiatry
|June 6, 2009
Summary
Individuals with schizophrenia exhibit impaired social cognition, specifically in theory of mind (ToM) tasks. This study assessed ToM using naturalistic communication and classical tasks, revealing difficulties in both.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Schizophrenia is associated with social cognition deficits, including impaired theory of mind (ToM) and communication.
- Traditional ToM assessments are often complex and may not reflect real-world conversational challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate theory of mind (ToM) abilities in individuals with schizophrenia.
- To compare ToM performance using a classical task and a more naturalistic referential communication task.
Main Methods:
- Thirty-one individuals with schizophrenia and 29 healthy controls participated.
- Participants completed both a standard ToM task and a referential communication task simulating natural conversation.
Main Results:
- Schizophrenia participants demonstrated significant difficulties in using reference markers and attributing mental states across both tasks.
- Compared to controls, schizophrenia participants showed ineffective information marking (e.g., article usage) and challenges utilizing shared information.
Conclusions:
- Impaired theory of mind (ToM) in schizophrenia extends to naturalistic communication settings.
- Deficits in using linguistic cues and managing shared information contribute to social cognition impairments in schizophrenia.
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