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Theory of Mind (ToM, sometimes referred to as mentalising) is the socio-cognitive ability which normal functioning individuals have to effectively infer the thoughts, beliefs and intentions of other people. This skill enables the cohesive functioning of individuals in society and is used to understand another person’s intention or meaning in social situations that are not immediately clear. For example, when someone makes an ironic statement, drops a hint or tells a joke. 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.
Schizotypy is used to describe a continuum of personality traits and experiences which relate to psychosis. High scores on measures of schizotypy are believed to be indicative of psychosis–proneness, with particular reference to schizophrenia.
This study would assess psychosis-proneness and ToM in a non-clinical sample 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.
Design/Materials
For this project you will ask participants to complete three questionnaires. Firstly the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences (Mason, Claridge, & Jackson, 1995) will give a total schizotypy score (predictor variable). The Hinting Task (Corcoran, Mercer, & Frith, 1995) will be used to assess ToM (predictor variable). This is very quick to administer and has been validated in schizophrenic samples, it assesses the ability to understand veiled intentions in speech acts. Finally participants will complete The Social Functioning Scale (Birchwood, Smith, Cochrane, Wetton, & Copestake, 1990) to assess their current level of social functioning (criterion variable).
At least 45 participants should be recruited in order to run the multiple regression analyses (a minimum of 15 participants per variable included in the model).
Statistical analysis
A multiple regression will be conducted with ‘Social functioning’ as the criterion variable and ‘Schizotypy score’ and ‘ToM score’ as predictor variables (which will be entered simultaneously).
Based on the regression, you should report whether the model indicates a significant or not relationship, the strength of the relationship (R) and the degree of explained variance (R2). In addition, you should report the β-values and significance level (p-value) for each predictor variable. Finally you will report the correlations between all the variables (r value and significance level)
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