title: Abstract and experiential thinking differentially account for anomalous perception of reality in people with or without schizophrenia.
abstract: repetitive thinking is often increased in various psychopathological conditions. However, evidence for its possible contribution to psychotic symptoms relies only on correlational analysis and has not been experimentally tested within the psychotic continuum. This research aims to examine whether repetitive thinking about a negative past experience using concrete versus abstract processing might modify the reporting of anomalous sensory experiences. 89 patients with schizophrenia and 89 matched controls were asked to reflect on their most negative Self-Defining Memory during a thirty-minute period. By means of a written script, half of the participants were instructed to remember thoughts, feelings and sensations associated with the event in an abstract mode, while the other half followed an equivalent script but with concrete questions. After induced concrete-experiential thinking, both controls and patients significantly reduced self-reported anomalous reality perception. However, participants in the induced abstract-analytical thinking condition increased anomalous experience, especially sensory experience from an unexplained source. Multigroup path analyses showed that involvement in abstract-analytical thinking during the task significantly mediated the relationship between pre-test and post-test anomalous perception scores, but only in the patient group. These results suggest that abstract thinking contributes to distorted sensory experiences. In contrast, training in a concrete processing mode of past experiences may be a useful tool to reduce subjective anomalous perceptions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Castilla La Mancha, Spain.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Ricarte
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Castilla La Mancha, Spain.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Del Rey
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Castilla La Mancha, Spain. Electronic address: Laura.Ros@uclm.es.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ros
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Castilla La Mancha, Spain.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Latorre
authors.affiliation: Unité INSERM 1114, Physiopathologie et Psychopathologie Cognitive de la Schizophrénie, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, Strasbourg Cedex, France; Université de Strasbourg, 4 rue Kirchleger, Strasbourg, France; FMTS: Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle de Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Berna
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D012678:Sensation Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D013850:Thinking / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Abstract rumination; Anomalous perception; Schizophrenia