title: Executive function assessed by memory updating and random generation in schizotypal individuals.
abstract: Individuals scoring high (N=32) and low (N=27) on the unusual experiences (UnEx) scale of the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences (O-LIFE) were selected from a large sample (N=265) of normal volunteer undergraduates. The high- and low-UnEx groups were compared on two tasks, random generation and memory updating, which target executive functions that inhibit prepotent responses and update current information. The groups differed only on the R measure of random generation that assesses inequality in the relative frequencies of response alternatives, a result attributed to superstitious behaviour rather than to executive deficit. The results suggest that the executive impairments previously observed in high schizotypal individuals using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and other measures are selective rather than global.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK. savons@essex.ac.uk
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Avons
authors.forename: Julia A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Nunn
authors.forename: Lucy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Armstrong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D012569:Schizotypal Personality Disorder / Q000150:complications*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires