Content area
Abstract
While prior studies consistently show that patients with schizophrenia exhibit deficits in theory of mind (ToM) task performance, similar studies in schizotypy yield inconsistent findings (e.g. Brune, 2005; Canli, Ozdemir, & Kocak, 2015; Gooding & Pflum, 2011; Pflum et al., 2013). Several explanations have been proposed for these mixed findings; use of unstandardized ToM measures and the multidimensional nature of schizotypy are prominent among them, though a deeper look into the literature shows that findings remain inconsistent even when addressing these methodological and measurement issues (Gooding & Pflum, 2011; Pflum et al., 2013; Pinkham et al., 2015). The current study investigated two other potential explanations for these inconsistencies: 1) ToM measures used in schizotypy have not differentiated between error types (i.e. not recognizing different mental states (undermentalization) versus making inaccurate, excessive inferences (hypermentalization) and 2) existing ToM measures involve fictional characters rather than involving the participant him/herself in the imagined social interaction. The current study utilized the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC), the original Hinting Task, and two newly developed, modified versions of the hinting task to assess ToM in schizotypy (Corcoran, Mercer, Frith, 1995; Dziobek et al., 2006). Results indicate that hypermentalization is a generalized deficit exhibited by both the negative affect and schizotypy groups, whereas self-referential hypermentalization is a deficit that is specific to the schizotypy group.
