Seeing words that are not there: Detection biases in schizotypy

Authors: Tsakanikos, Elias¹; Reed, Phil²

Source: British Journal of Clinical Psychology, Volume 44, Number 2, June 2005 , pp. 295-299(5)

Publisher: British Psychological Society

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Abstract:

Objective. The present study introduced a novel word-detection paradigm to examine detection biases as a function of different schizotypy dimensions in a sample of undergraduate students.

Method. The participants (N=80) were asked to detect fast moving (8 frames/second) words among simultaneously moving non-words.

Results. Positive schizotypy was associated with a tendency to report words that never appeared in the trials. This effect was independent of task order, impulsivity and social desirability. None of the schizotypy measures were associated with correct words (detection accuracy).

Conclusions. A bias to report events in the absence of corresponding events may constitute a cross-modal mechanism responsible for translating internally generated experiences into perceptual experiences.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1348/014466505X28757

Affiliations: 1: Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK 2: Department of Psychology, University of Wales Swansea, UK

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