title: Attentional-shaping as a means to improve emotion perception deficits in schizophrenia.
abstract: Inability to recognize emotional expressions of others (emotion perception) is one of the most common impairments observed among individuals with schizophrenia. Such deficits presumably contribute much to the social dysfunction characteristic of schizophrenia. This study examined the efficacy of a novel attentional-shaping intervention to improve emotion perception abilities. Sixty participants with schizophrenia were randomly assigned to one of three intervention conditions: 1) attentional-shaping, 2) contingent monetary reinforcement, or 3) repeated practice. Participants completed the Face Emotion Identification Test (FEIT) at pre-test, intervention, post-test, and one week follow-up. Participants also completed the Bell-Lysaker Emotion Recognition Test (BLERT) and the Social Behavior Scale at pre-test and follow-up to measure generalization. The results showed that the attentional-shaping condition had significantly higher scores on the FEIT at intervention, post-test, and follow-up compared to monetary reinforcement and repeated practice. Improvement was also found on the BLERT and a trend was found for improved social behaviors at one-week follow-up. Results will be discussed in terms of face scanning and attentional deficits present in schizophrenia and potential uses of this intervention in the remediation of emotion perception deficits.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas at Tyler, Department of Psychology, 3900 University Blvd., Tyler, TX 75799, United States. Dcombs@uttyler.edu
authors.forename: Dennis R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Combs
authors.forename: Aneta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tosheva
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Penn
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Basso
authors.forename: Jill L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Wanner
authors.forename: Kristen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Laib
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D004644:Emotions; D019260:Expressed Emotion; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012919:Social Behavior; D012938:Social Perception; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014796:Visual Perception