Mental state decoding v. mental state reasoning as a mediator between cognitive and social function in psychosis.
Theory of mind deficits in schizophrenia have been parsed into mental state reasoning and mental state decoding components. We report that mental state decoding as measured by the 'Eyes task' better predicted social function than mental state reasoning as measured by the 'Hinting task' in 73 out-patients with chronic schizophrenia. Mental state decoding task performance also partly mediated the influence of basic neuropsychological performance on social function. We discuss these findings in terms of the accumulating evidence that mental state decoding has particular relevance for understanding deficits in social function in schizophrenia.
McGlade
Nicola
N
Neuropsychiatric Genetics Research Group, Department of Psychiatry, Trinity Health Sciences Building, St. James's Hospital, Dublin 8, Ireland.
Behan
Caragh
C
Hayden
Judy
J
O'Donoghue
Therese
T
Peel
Rosie
R
Haq
Farhan
F
Gill
Michael
M
Corvin
Aiden
A
O'Callaghan
Eadbhard
E
Donohoe
Gary
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology