Abstract
This study examined the relationship between nonverbal social perception and symptomatology in schizophrenia. Schizophrenic patients (n = 28) and normal controls (n = 28) were given the profile of nonverbal sensitivity test (PONS). Patients' symptoms were rated with the brief psychiatric rating scale (BPRS). Schizophrenic subjects performed significantly more poorly than normal subjects in their ability to decode nonverbal cues. In addition, normal subjects improved their accuracy significantly more than patients when provided with additional cues per scene to decode. The patients' total PONS score was not significantly correlated with the BPRS summary scores for positive or negative symptoms, but was significantly correlated with the individual positive symptom of conceptual disorganization. Subjects classified as having paranoid schizophrenia (n = 11) on the basis of chart diagnoses performed significantly better on the PONS than did undifferentiated schizophrenic subjects (n = 13). The discussion reviews how these results contribute to our understanding of social deficits in schizophrenia.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 83-91 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Schizophrenia Research |
| Volume | 53 |
| Issue number | 1-2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Jan 2002 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This study was conducted as the dissertation project of Dr Toomey in the Psychology Department at the University of Montana. The sample was obtained through the cooperation of the staff and administration of Camarillo State Hospital. The authors thank Daniel Storzbach for help in data collection. The study was supported, in part, by an NIMH funded study to Dr Green (MH 43292). Diagnostic training and symptom assessment were supported by NIMH Clinical Research Grant MH 30911 (Dr R.P. Liberman, P.I.).
Keywords
- Nonverbal social perception
- Schizophrenia
- Symptoms
