The influence of idiomatic salience during the comprehension of ambiguous idioms by patients with schizophrenia.
This study investigates whether figurative comprehension in schizophrenia is influenced by the salience of idiomatic meaning, and whether it is affected by clinical and demographic factors and IQ. Twenty-seven schizophrenic patients and 25 healthy participants performed a semantic relatedness judgement task which required the comprehension of idioms with two plausible meanings (literal and figurative). The study also used literal expressions. The figurative meaning of the idioms was less salient (ILS), more salient (IFS), or equally salient (IES) compared to the literal meaning. The results showed "a salience effect" (i.e., all participants understood the salient meanings better than the less salient meanings). There was also a "figurativeness effect" (i.e., healthy individuals understood the figurative meaning of IES better than the literal meaning but not schizophrenic patients). In patients, their thought disorder influenced the figurative comprehension of IFS. The verbal IQ influenced the figurative comprehension of ILS. The thought disorder, the verbal IQ, and the educational level influenced the figurative comprehension of IES. The patients' clinically evaluated concretism was associated with a reduced figurative comprehension of IFS and IES evaluated at a cognitive level. The results are discussed in relation to cognitive mechanisms which underscore figurative comprehension in schizophrenia.
Iakimova
Galina
G
Inserm ERI 15, Université de Versailles St-Quentin EA 4047, Centre Hospitalier de Versailles, 177 route de Versailles, 78150 Le Chesnay, France. iakimova@unice.fr
Passerieux
Christine
C
Denhière
Guy
G
Laurent
Jean-Paul
JP
Vistoli
Damien
D
Vilain
Jeanne
J
Hardy-Baylé
Marie-Christine
MC
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002746:Chlorpromazine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D032882:Comprehension / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012660:Semantics; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D014825:Vocabulary; D055815:Young Adult
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D002746:Chlorpromazine