Assessing the Theory of Mind and Schizotypy - Research Paper Example

ASSESSING THEORY OF MIND AND SCHIZOTYPY IN RELATION TO SOCIAL FUNCTIONING IN A NON-CLINICAL POPULATION by of your of the Professor Name of the university, the city and State Due date of the paper Introduction The phrase theory of mind (ToM, sometimes referred to as mentalising) came into existence in literature with the experiment conducted by Premack and Woodruff on the chimpanzee and this passed on to the young children. There were experiments conducted that stressed on the children’s understanding of mental states that were on beliefs and desire. (Doherty 2009, p.7) The classic experiment with the children was made with the story of Sally and friend Tony. The story shows that Sally had a marble and placed it in the box and Tony had a jar .When Sally goes out for a while from the room Tony places the marble into the jar. When Sally comes back the questions are asked to the children as where Sally looks for the marble first. (Doherty 2009, p.9) If the child is 3 years old then they say it is in the box and can’t imagine and stick with what they believe. They do not have the ability to think that others have thoughts, desires and knowledge different from them. And 4 to 6 years old children can comprehend and say Sally is going to look for the marble in the box incorrectly and they have the ability to understand that the marble is in the jar. There are 10 different personality disorders. They can be differentiated with symptoms. One of the personality disorders is schizotypy. Rado made the initial use of the term schizotypal, but Meehl proposed that it is an integrative neural defect, and named schizotaxia, which is mostly inherited by some family members of schizophrenic individuals, and that the various forms of schizophrenic illness result from subsequent environmental influences interacting with this deficit.(Millon and Blaney 2009,pp.699-700) Some of the symptoms can be characterized as they are learners and have extreme anxiety in social situation. They are very suspicious and eccentric in nature. They lack close friends and are in 50 per cent depression and be in the social isolation. They believe in sixth sense and magical thinking. This endangers them towards social dysfunction and with limited career options. (Shohov 2002, p.151) Given It is well stated that the demonstration of an intact theory of mind probably represents the pinnacle achievement of social cognition. There is a plethora of research which has found that people with schizophrenia underperform (attain low scores) on tasks of ToM. High scores on measures of schizotypy are believed to be indicative of psychosis–proneness, with particular reference to schizophrenia. Aim To assess psychosis-proneness and ToM in a non-clinical sample and to investigate whether people who score highly on a measure of schizotypy and who are poor mentalisers (score low on ToM) have reduced social functioning. Method 45 participants should be recruited in order to run the multiple regression analyses (a minimum of 15 participants per variable included in the model) Questionnaires 1. Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences(Predictor Variable) 2. The Hinting Task((Predictor Variable) 3. The Social Functioning Scale(Criterion Variable) As stated in (Tsakanikos, in 1989 cited in Bentall et al., 2004, p.3), ‘The Oxford–Liverpool Inventory for Feelings and Experiences (O-LIFE) consists of 159 items selected on the basis of factor-analytic studies of scales that have been employed in the past to assess psychotic-like features in the general population.’ Hinting Task The Hinting task was adapted for computer administration from (Fernyhough , 1995 cited in Corcoran et al. 2008, p.7)It consists of 10-item theory of mind assessment that requires them to do social judgments. The hints are provided if they are unable to answer. If the answer is given without any hint then they are given 2 points. If one hint is given then receives 1 point. Social Functioning Scale The Social Functioning Questionnaire (SFQ), is an eight-item self report scale (score range 0–24), which was developed from the Social Functioning Schedule (SFS), a semi-structured interview tool. ‘It’s rightly mentioned that impairment in social functioning can often exist prior to illness onset, and constitutes a significant predictor of the prognosis of schizophrenia.’ (Tyrer, 1996 cited in Harrison et al, 2005, p.1) O-LIFE ToMH (Hinting Task) Social Functioning Scale (SFS) Unusual Experiences 10 verbal stories Social Engagement Cognitive Disorganization 10 verbal stories Independence Performance Introvertive Anhedonia 10 verbal stories Social Activities Impulsive Nonconformity 10 verbal stories Recreational Activities Independence Competence 10 verbal stories Occupational Activity Recent evidence (Tsakanikos 2004, p.4) show the trends of Unusual Experiences as the positive symptoms of psychosis, and consists of items assessing magical thinking, unusual perceptual aberrations, and hallucinatory experiences. According to the Rawlings and Freeman, 1. ‘Do you believe that dreams can come true? .57 2. Do you ever feel that your thoughts don’t belong to you?0.37 0.53 3. Have you ever thought you heard someone talking only to discover that it was in fact some nondescript noise?’0.66(Shohov 2002,p. 156) Cognitive Disorganization (Tsakanikos 2004, p.4) reflects the disorganized aspect of psychosis, and consists of items assessing difficulties with concentration and decision making, as well as social anxiety. 4. ‘Do you ever suddenly feel distracted by distant sounds that you are not normally aware of? 0.61 5. Do you ever have a sense of vague danger or sudden dread for reasons that you do not understand? 0.63 6. When in a crowded room do you often feel difficulty in following a conversation? 7. Do you feel at times that people are talking about you?0.51’(Shohov 2002,p. 156) Introvertive Anhedonia (Tsakanikos 2004, p.4) reflects the negative aspects of psychosis, and consists of items assessing the lack of enjoyment from social contact, physical activities, coupled with aversion to emotional and physical intimacy. 1. ‘Do you ever feel that your speech is difficult to understand because the words are all mixed up or don’t make sense ? .54 2. When coming to a new situation, have you ever felt that you were communicating with another person telepathically? .86 3. Are you very hurt by criticism? .62’(Shohov 2002,p. 156) Impulsive Non-conformity (Tsakanikos, p.4) consists of items assessing aggressive, anti-social and impulsive behavior. 1. ‘Do you ever get nervous when somebody is walking behind you? .54 2. Do you feel at times that people are talking about you?0.51 3. Do you feel that you have to be on your guard even with your friends?0.83’ (Shohov 2002,p. 156) As mentioned, (Erol, 2000 cited in Mueser, 2009, p.1) in schizophrenia social functioning is impacted by negative and positive symptoms, mood, social behavior, and environmental factors. The questionnaires is based on these attributes and are listed as below, Social Engagement: In this we can ask those questions relating to the average time they get up every day or on weekend, do they spend waking time alone, how often will they start a conversation at home, will they leave the house for any reason, or react to the presence of strangers. It can have the options as, Almost never / rarely / sometimes / often Interpersonal: This can be a list of 10 questions and they are as follows, number of friends they have, whether they find it easy to discuss feelings, do they have any girl friend or boy friend, do they confront more argument with friends, uneasy with groups of people and their relationships. Functioning and social activities: Social activities include the Cinema, Theatre, Visiting places of interest, Formal occasions and so forth. Recreation: The usage of playing musical instruments, sewing, knitting, walking, swimming, craft activity and so forth. Independence: Will the person be able to go alone using the public transport can keep the money safely, washing own clothes and finding job by themselves, personal hygiene, choosing and buying things by their own like clothes and so forth. Performance/Competence: How well they do in the employment. Employment/Occupation: If working, how many hours do they work and it’s been how long that they are in the same job, then the last employment and how many hours they work. If they are not working are they registered disabled, do they attend hospital as a day patient, are they capable of some sort of employment and make attempts to find a job. This can be answered in the format listed as, Definitely Yes / would have difficulty / definitely no .(Birchwood 2002, p. 64) Multiple regression We take Social functioning as the criterion variable and Schizotypy score and ToM score as predictor variable. Let us say this as figure 1, Y(SFS) X1(OLIFE) X2(TOM) X1*Y X2*Y X1*X2 1 12 10 12 10 120 2 12 10 24 20 120 3 15 15 45 45 225 4 18 14 72 56 252 5 15 14 75 70 210 6 13 15 78 90 195 7 12 10 84 70 120 8 10 18 80 144 180 9 24 10 216 90 240 10 15 12 150 120 180 11 13 14 143 154 182 12 12 10 144 120 120 13 14 13 182 169 182 14 12 12 168 168 144 15 13 14 195 210 182 16 12 15 192 240 180 17 12 12 204 204 144 18 11 11 198 198 121 19 12 14 228 266 168 20 13 13 260 260 169 21 12 13 252 273 156 22 13 12 286 264 156 23 12 12 276 276 144 24 14 15 336 360 210 25 14 16 350 400 224 26 13 15 338 390 195 27 13 14 351 378 182 28 13 12 364 336 156 29 12 14 348 406 168 30 12 13 360 390 156 31 12 13 372 403 156 32 12 13 384 416 156 33 12 11 396 363 132 34 15 14 510 476 210 35 12 12 420 420 144 36 12 13 432 468 156 37 13 14 481 518 182 38 12 13 456 494 156 39 12 14 468 546 168 40 12 12 480 480 144 41 11 11 451 451 121 42 12 11 504 462 132 43 14 15 602 645 210 44 15 15 660 660 225 45 14 15 630 675 210 Y X1 X2 X1*Y X2*Y X1*X2 1035 588 588 13257 13654 7683 Sum 45 45 45 45 45 45 N 540 316.5 316.5 6651 6849.5 3864 Median 13.13393 2.178406 1.814086 169.1491 180.19364 34.86559 SD 31395 7892 7828 1071225 345744 345744 23805 7683.2 7683.2 7590 208.8 144.8 Sum Of squares It is based on the hypothesis that the people who score highly on a measure of schizotypy and who are poor mentalisers have reduced social functioning. We use this table to determine the a and b values in the equation below, We may write the multiple regression equation as, The prediction equation is: The equation for a with two predictor variables is: Source: Regression with Two Independent Variables (Anon., n.d.) ∑x1y=13257-(588×1035)/45=267 ∑x2y=13654-(588×1035)/45=130 ∑x1x2=7683-(588×588)/45=0.2 b1= (144.8)( 267)-( 0.2)( 130)/( 208.8)( 144.8)-( 0.2)2 =38661.6-26/30234.24-.004 =38635.6/30234.23 =1.28 b2=(208.8)( 130)-( 0.2)( 267)/( 208.8)( 144.8)-( 0.2)2 =27144-53.4/30234.23 =27090.6/30234.23 =0.896 a=540-(1.28) (316.5)-(0.896) (316.5) =540-405.12-283.58 =-148.7 The prediction equation A is Y = -148.7+1.28X1+0.896X2 Observation Predicted Y Residuals Standard Residuals 1 21.6152591 -20.6152591 -1.619196735 2 21.6152591 -19.6152591 -1.540653132 3 22.26175214 -19.26175214 -1.512887422 4 17.532095 -13.532095 -1.062859503 5 21.36572711 -16.36572711 -1.28542318 6 24.81750689 -18.81750689 -1.477994798 7 21.6152591 -14.6152591 -1.147935115 8 31.33921409 -23.33921409 -1.833145976 9 6.280730652 2.719269348 0.213581213 10 19.57367705 -9.57367705 -0.751951094 11 23.92148185 -12.92148185 -1.014899747 12 21.6152591 -9.6152591 -0.755217098 13 21.74757945 -8.747579452 -0.687066411 14 23.40730916 -9.407309162 -0.73888396 15 23.92148185 -8.921481854 -0.700725333 16 26.09538426 -10.09538426 -0.792927857 17 23.40730916 -6.407309162 -0.50325315 18 23.7891615 -5.789161501 -0.454701605 19 25.19935922 -6.199359225 -0.486920012 20 23.02545682 -3.025456823 -0.237630281 21 24.30333419 -3.303334193 -0.259455771 22 22.12943179 -0.129431791 -0.010166039 23 23.40730916 -0.407309162 -0.031991529 24 23.53962951 0.460370486 0.036159157 25 24.43565455 0.564345454 0.044325726 26 24.81750689 1.182493115 0.09287727 27 23.92148185 3.078518146 0.241797908 28 22.12943179 5.870568209 0.461095581 29 25.19935922 3.800640775 0.298516022 30 24.30333419 5.696665807 0.44743666 31 24.30333419 6.696665807 0.525980263 32 24.30333419 7.696665807 0.604523867 33 22.51128413 10.48871587 0.82382154 34 21.36572711 12.63427289 0.992341319 35 23.40730916 11.59269084 0.910531712 36 24.30333419 11.69666581 0.918698281 37 23.92148185 13.07851815 1.027233943 38 24.30333419 13.69666581 1.075785487 39 25.19935922 13.80064078 1.083952056 40 23.40730916 16.59269084 1.303249729 41 23.7891615 17.2108385 1.351801274 42 22.51128413 19.48871587 1.530713971 43 23.53962951 19.46037049 1.528487622 44 22.26175214 21.73824786 1.707400319 45 23.53962951 21.46037049 1.685574829 Variance of Y=13.13392554 and Variance of Y’= 12.73178154 R is a measure of the correlation between the observed value and the predicted value of the criterion variable. R Square (R2) is the square of this measure of correlation and indicates the proportion of the variance in the criterion variable which is accounted by our model. R square tends to somewhat over-estimate the success of the model when applied to the real world, so an Adjusted R Square value is calculated which takes into account the number of variables in the model and the number of observations (participants) our model is based on. This Adjusted R Square value gives the most useful measure of the success of our model. (Multiple regression, n.d.) The variance of Y is 13.13. The variance of Y is 12.73577, and the variance of the residuals is 1. Regression (Y) and the variance of error (e) add up to the variance of Y (13.33577+0.449197). R-square is 13.13/13.73577= 0.245560452 R2=0.060299936 Adjusted R Square=0.0155 Standard Error=13.03 If we compute the correlation between Y and Y we find that R=0.989, which when squared is also an R-square of .98. R-square is the proportion of variance in Y due to the multiple regressions. We know that correlation is the proportion of shared variance between two variables and it can 0.8 and 0.9 as it is taken from the correlation. 0.64+0.81=1.45 Each X variable will have associated with it one slope or regression weight. Source: Regression with Two Independent Variables (Anon., n.d.) The beta value is a measure of how strongly each predictor variable influences the criterion variable. Thus, the higher the beta value the greater the impact of the predictor variable on the criterion variable. Source: Regression with Two Independent Variables (Anon., n.d.) Where ry1 is the correlation of y with X1, ry2 is the correlation of y with X2, and r12 is the correlation of X1 with X2. Note that the two formulas are nearly identical; the exception is the ordering of the first two symbols in the numerator. Y X1 X2 Y 1 X1 0.37 1 X2 0.76 0.2 1 β= 0.37-(0.76)(.2)/1-(.2)2 = 0.218/0.96 =0.227 β2= 0.76-(.37)(.2)/1-(.2)2 =0.76-.074/.96 =0.021 (0.37)(0.227)+ (0.021) (0.76) =0.99 This shows that the impact of X1 is more when compared to X2. The standard error of the b weight for the two variable problems Where s2y 2 is the variance of estimate (the variance of the residuals). We use the standard error of the b weight in testing t for significance. The sum of squared errors is 9.08 and the df=45-2-1=42 9.08/42=0.216 =√ (0.216)/ 208.8(1-(.2)2 =0.032 Source: Regression with Two Independent Variables (Anon., n.d.) Sb2=√ (.216)/ (144.8) (1-(.2)2 =0.039 Source: Regression with Two Independent Variables (Anon., n.d.) For b2 t=.896//0.039=.24 t=b1-β1/Sb1 =1.28-0.227/0.032=32 then the p-value is 0.163864674 which reflects the value that is greater than .05 t=b2-β2/Sb2 =0.896-0.021/0.039 =3 .4which shows the p-values as 0.412689318which is significant. In our case t = .0864/.0313 or .27. If we compare this to the t distribution with 42 df, we find that it is significant (from a lookup function, we find that p = 0.004376, which is less than .05). For b2, we compute t = .0876/.0455 = 1.926, which has a p value of 0.412689318 which is greater than .05. Note that the correlation ry2 is .22, which is highly significant (p > .05) but b2 is highly significant. Testing the Significance of R2 =(0.98/2)/(1-(.98)2)/(45-2-1) = 0.49/ (1-.9604)/42 And we can see that the F value is 1.347556202 Source: Regression with Two Independent Variables (Anon., n.d.) We can test the change in R2 that occurs when we add a new variable to a regression equation. In our example, we know that R2=.060299936 and ry1= 0.37, ry2= 0.76, r2y1=.14 and r2y2=0.5776 so we calculate F= (.06-.57)/2-1/(1-.06)/(45-2-1)=0.41/1/.02/42=.41×42/.02=1.457556202 Our critical value of F has changed, so the increment to R2 by X2 is quite significant. Multiple correlation coefficient R=√b1 (SX1Y) +b2 (SX2Y)/SSY = √ (1.28) (.37)+0.896(0.76)/ 7590 = 0.012 The correlation coefficient in this using the Pearson Method is,   Y X1 X2 Y 1 X1 -0.978 1 X2 0.124005 -0.00115 1 From the figure 1 we have the values, Source: (Correlation, n.d.) (13257)- (588) (1035)/45 r = √[(345744)-(588/45)2 ][1071225-(1035/45)2 -595323 √(345573)(1070696 =-0.978 This shows that a correlation is negative, when one variable increases, the other variable decreases. This means there is an inverse or negative relationship between the two variables. So if the OLIFE scores increases then the social functioning reduces. Similarly, the correlation coefficient is positive in case of ToM and social functioning. Conclusion In order to discover the significant of people who score highly on a measure of schizotypy and who are poor mentalisers have reduced social functioning, multiple regression analysis was applied. The social functioning scale was entered as dependent variable with O LIFE scores and ToM scores as predicted variables. Predictor Variable β t p O LIFE 0.227 -1.416978525 0.163864674 ToM 0.021 0.82739571 0.412689318 From the above inferences it is clear that, We may need to accept the null hypothesis at level 0.13 since the p-value is > 0.05 F value is 1.347556202 and the significance value is 0.270878408. From the above hypothesis and the multiple regression we can conclude that the person with high schizotypy score and with low ToM score can have the same kind of score i.e. high score with the Social Functioning Scale and reduced social functioning. It has been proposed that certain psychotic symptoms associated with schizophrenia reflect a deficit in the ability to appreciate other peoples mental states (Frith, 1992). This can help to determine the level of their problem and can diagnose them according to the symptoms. This can help the patient to come out of the personality disorder and can be one amongst the normal humans. ‘It is proposed that social/interpersonal schizotypal traits, like negative symptoms of schizophrenia, are accompanied by deficient executive functions of working memory, which appear to undermine, inter alia, logical reasoning processing.’ (Tsakanikos, 2004) For the Psychologist this can become the tool that can administer them without asking any questions that may hurt the patient’s feelings and interact with them and build in the confidence that they are to help them and guide them towards right direction. Bibliography Correlation, [e journal] Abstract only. Available through URL http://luna.cas.usf.edu/~mbrannic/files/regression/corr1.html#The sampling distribution of r [Accessed 9 July 2012]. Doherty, Martin J, 2009.Theory of Mind, How children understand others’ Thoughts and Feelings. New York: Psychology Press. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=BzO5lRzH3q0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Doherty,+Martin+J,+2009.Theory+of+Mind,+How+children+understand+others%E2%80%99+Thoughts+and+Feelings.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=I_b7T8DeJpDorQe_majSBg&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Doherty%2C%20Martin%20J%2C%202009.Theory%20of%20Mind%2C%20How%20children%20understand%20others%E2%80%99%20Thoughts%20and%20Feelings.&f=false Erol Dr. et al., 2009. Predictors of Social Functioning in Schizophrenia. 20(4): 313-321. Turkish Journal of Psychiatry. Available through: [Accessed 9 July 2012]. Fernyhough, Charles, et al.,2008. Theory of mind, schizotypy, and persecutory ideation in young adults. Available through:Psychology Press website http://www.charlesfernyhough.com/papers/Fernyhough+08CNP.pdf [Accessed 9 July 2012]. Frith ,CD ,Corcoran ,R. and Mercer G.1995. Schizophrenia, symptomatology and social inference: investigating "theory of mind" in people with schizophrenia. [e journal] Abstract only. 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[e-journal] 51(3):265-75.Abstract only. Available through: Imperial College Charing Cross Campus, London, UK. URL http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16252794 [Accessed 9 July 2012]. Read More