title: Word use in first-person accounts of schizophrenia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Language use is often disrupted in patients with schizophrenia; novel computational approaches may provide new insights.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To test word use patterns as markers of the perceptual, cognitive and social experiences characteristic of schizophrenia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Word counting software was applied to first-person accounts of schizophrenia and mood disorder.
  
  
  RESULTS
  More third-person plural pronouns ('they') and fewer first-person singular pronouns ('I') were used in schizophrenia than mood disorder accounts. Schizophrenia accounts included fewer words related to the body and ingestion, and more related to religion. Perceptual and causal language were negatively correlated in schizophrenia accounts but positively correlated in mood disorder accounts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Differences in pronouns suggest decreased self-focus or perhaps even an understanding of self as other in schizophrenia. Differences in how perceptual and causal words are correlated suggest that long-held delusions represent a decreased coupling of explanations with sensory experience over time.
authors: S. K. Fineberg, MD, PhD, Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, Ribicoff Research Facility, New Haven, Connecticut; S. Deutsch-Link, BA, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut; M. Ichinose, BA, T. McGuinness, BA, A. J. Bessette, BS, Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, Connecticut; C. K. Chung, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas; P. R. Corlett, PhD, Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
authors: S K
authors: SK
authors: Fineberg
authors: S. K. Fineberg, MD, PhD, Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, Ribicoff Research Facility, New Haven, Connecticut; S. Deutsch-Link, BA, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut; M. Ichinose, BA, T. McGuinness, BA, A. J. Bessette, BS, Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, Connecticut; C. K. Chung, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas; P. R. Corlett, PhD, Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Deutsch-Link
authors: S. K. Fineberg, MD, PhD, Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, Ribicoff Research Facility, New Haven, Connecticut; S. Deutsch-Link, BA, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut; M. Ichinose, BA, T. McGuinness, BA, A. J. Bessette, BS, Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, Connecticut; C. K. Chung, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas; P. R. Corlett, PhD, Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Ichinose
authors: S. K. Fineberg, MD, PhD, Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, Ribicoff Research Facility, New Haven, Connecticut; S. Deutsch-Link, BA, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut; M. Ichinose, BA, T. McGuinness, BA, A. J. Bessette, BS, Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, Connecticut; C. K. Chung, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas; P. R. Corlett, PhD, Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
authors: T
authors: T
authors: McGuinness
authors: S. K. Fineberg, MD, PhD, Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, Ribicoff Research Facility, New Haven, Connecticut; S. Deutsch-Link, BA, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut; M. Ichinose, BA, T. McGuinness, BA, A. J. Bessette, BS, Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, Connecticut; C. K. Chung, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas; P. R. Corlett, PhD, Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
authors: A J
authors: AJ
authors: Bessette
authors: S. K. Fineberg, MD, PhD, Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, Ribicoff Research Facility, New Haven, Connecticut; S. Deutsch-Link, BA, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut; M. Ichinose, BA, T. McGuinness, BA, A. J. Bessette, BS, Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, Connecticut; C. K. Chung, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas; P. R. Corlett, PhD, Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
authors: C K
authors: CK
authors: Chung
authors: S. K. Fineberg, MD, PhD, Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, Ribicoff Research Facility, New Haven, Connecticut; S. Deutsch-Link, BA, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut; M. Ichinose, BA, T. McGuinness, BA, A. J. Bessette, BS, Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, Connecticut; C. K. Chung, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas; P. R. Corlett, PhD, Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
authors: P R
authors: PR
authors: Corlett
mesh_terms: D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D033262:Narration; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology