Over the past few decades, there has been increasing interest in the study of social impairment in schizophrenia. However, the concept of social functioning has been poorly defined in the literature. This article highlights the global and multi-factorial nature of social functioning and reviews the theoretical determinants of social dysfunction in schizophrenia. Emphasis is placed on outlining the social cognitive deficits that may occur. The study of social cognition appears particularly promising in elucidating our understanding of the development of social impairment in schizophrenia and has the potential to improve current psychosocial interventions. However, continued advances depend upon the existence of reliable and well-validated measures of social functioning and social cognition. A selection of measures are reviewed in this article in an attempt to highlight the importance of assessing multiple aspects of social functioning in schizophrenia and to assist researchers in the selection of appropriate measures. Future efforts should be directed towards the continued validation of social functioning and social cognitive measures and their adaptation for use in at-risk and early psychosis populations.

The bimodal perception of speech sounds was examined in children with autism as compared to mental age-matched typically developing (TD) children. A computer task was employed wherein only the mouth region of the face was displayed and children reported what they heard or saw when presented with consonant-vowel sounds in unimodal auditory condition, unimodal visual condition, and a bimodal condition. Children with autism showed less visual influence and more auditory influence on their bimodal speech perception as compared to their TD peers, largely due to significantly worse performance in the unimodal visual condition (lip reading). Children with autism may not benefit to the same extent as TD children from visual cues such as lip reading that typically support the processing of speech sounds. The disadvantage in lip reading may be detrimental when auditory input is degraded, for example in school settings, whereby speakers are communicating in frequently noisy environments.

Autism and its related disorders are commonly described as lying along a continuum that ranges in severity and are collectively referred to as autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Although all individuals with ASD meet the social impairment diagnostic criteria outlined in the DSM-IV-TR, they do not present with the same social difficulties. The variability in the expression and severity of social competence is particularly evident among the group of individuals with "high-functioning" ASD who appear to have difficulty applying their average to above average intelligence in a social context. There is a striking paucity of empirical research investigating individual differences in social functioning among individuals with high-functioning ASD. It is possible that more detailed investigations of social competence have been impeded by the lack of standardized measures available to assess the nature and severity of social impairment. The aim of the current study was to develop and evaluate a parent rating scale capable of assessing individual differences in social competence (i.e. strengths and challenges) among adolescents with ASD: the Multidimensional Social Competence Scale (MSCS). Results from confirmatory factor analyses supported the hypothesized multidimensional factor structure of the MSCS. Seven relatively distinct domains of social competence were identified including social motivation, social inferencing, demonstrating empathic concern, social knowledge, verbal conversation skills, nonverbal sending skills, and emotion regulation. Psychometric evidence provided preliminary support for the reliability and validity of the scale. Possible applications of this promising new parent rating scale in both research and clinical settings are discussed.

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