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Schizotypy is associated with reduced mnemonic precision in visual working memory.
Weizhen Xie1, Marcus Cappiello1, Hyung-Bum Park1
1Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, USA.
Schizophrenia Research
|August 2, 2017
Summary
Schizotypy is linked to less precise visual working memory (WM) representations, not reduced capacity. Depressed mood, however, negatively impacts WM capacity, not precision, in non-clinical individuals.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Working memory (WM) is crucial for cognitive functions and often impaired in schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
- Schizotypy, a personality trait related to psychosis, may affect WM.
- Understanding WM deficits in schizotypy is vital for early intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between self-reported schizotypy and visual WM.
- To determine if schizotypy affects the quality (precision) or quantity (capacity) of visual WM.
- To examine the roles of sensory memory and depressed mood in these WM impairments.
Main Methods:
- 164 medication-naïve college students participated.
- Visual working memory and sensory memory were assessed using color estimation tasks.
- Self-report measures of schizotypy and depressed mood were administered.
Main Results:
- Higher schizotypy correlated with less precise visual WM representations, but not reduced capacity.
- Sensory memory precision was not significantly correlated with schizotypy.
- Depressed mood was associated with reduced WM capacity, but not precision.
Conclusions:
- Schizotypy is associated with unstable mental representations in visual WM.
- Depressed mood is linked to reduced cognitive resources affecting WM capacity.
- Findings highlight dissociable WM deficits in schizotypy and depressed mood.
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