There is a clear association between ToM impairment and behavioural signs in schizophrenia. Deficits in paranoid patients are harder to detect with current tasks and may be compensated for by IQ-dependent problem-solving skills. ToM impairments in schizophrenia are less severe than in autism, but are specific and not a reflection of general cognitive deficits.

No abstract

Positive schizotypal traits in the normal population are associated with subtle impairments in ToM, independent of reasoning ability, executive function, or verbal IQ. A strong association between poor ToM and "behavioural signs" may only appear in studies of schizophrenic patients, and not in studies of nonclinical individuals. The findings are discussed in relation to Frith's (1992) cognitive neuropsychological model of schizophrenia.

Background: There is good agreement that Theory of Mind (ToM) and executive function are impaired to some degree in many patients with schizophrenia. However, few studies have set out to investigate as a primary aim the relationship between these 2 cognitive domains in the disorder. Methods: A systematic review was carried out to identify all published studies in which tests of ToM and executive function were administered to individuals with schizophrenia, and in which the relation between scores was reported. Results: The review revealed 17 relevant studies, of which 8 reported the relation between ToM and executive function using multivariate statistics. These all concurred in showing that ToM ability continued to predict an individual having schizophrenia (rather than being a control participant) once executive function was controlled for. Conclusions: There is very good agreement that ToM and executive function impairments in schizophrenia are independent of one another. Implications are discussed for the putative brain systems involved in the disorder and for its cognitive rehabilitation.

Fitness to plead is a fundamental legal concept. Its determination in England and Wales rests on professional interpretation of the 'Pritchard' criteria (1836). In the United States, the determination of the analogous concept of competence to stand trial rests on professional interpretation of the 'Dusky' criteria (1960). Numerous assessment instruments have been developed in North America to help guide professional determinations of competence to stand trial, but such assessments are not routinely employed in British settings. The evidence reviewed calls into question the utility of the fitness to plead construct as currently formulated and highlights the inadequacy of the procedures employed in its determination. We argue that both conceptual and procedural changes are required.