Semantic priming in schizophrenia: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Pomarol‐Clotet, Edith; Oh, Tomasina M.; Laws, Keith R.; McKenna, Peter

doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.106.032102

Cited by 126 publications

(109 citation statements)

References 45 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…However, the underlying mechanisms of this remain unclear. One popular theory is disruption in the semantic memory system, resulting in overinclusive thinking (Cameron, 1939;Payne, 1960;Chen et al, 1994), differences in the spreading of activation through the network (Maher, 1983;Moritz et al, 2002; for a meta analysis see Pomarol-Clotet et al, 2008), a disorganization within the semantic system (Paulsen et al, 1996), or a disruption of expression at the semantic level (McKenna and Oh, 2005),. However, studies adopting alternative methodological frameworks (i.e., not priming paradigms) and different statistical approaches have not found support for notions of a difference in the putative boundaries of categories (Elvevåg et al, 2002), or underlying semantic structure and organization (Elvevåg and Storms, 2003;Cohen et al, 2005;Elvevåg et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metaphor interpretation and use: A window into semantics in schizophrenia

Elvevåg

Helsen

Hert³

et al. 2011

Schizophrenia Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The nature of putative semantic anomalies in schizophrenia is controversial. Metaphor interpretation and use provide a useful methodology with which to probe semantics since metaphors are critical in reasoning processes and in how conceptual knowledge is organized.The first study examined free speech for figurative language. The second study explored whether emotional versus non-emotional metaphorical language interpretation elicits differences in the tendencies to produce idiosyncratic (bizarre) or literal interpretations or use of other metaphors to describe the meaning of a metaphor. The third study examined the interpretation of time metaphors. We expected the time perspective in ambiguous sentences to be differentially influenced by previously presented unambiguous sentences of a specific perspective, either events moving relative to a stationary observer (moving-time) or an observer moving relative to a stationary event (moving-ego). First, we found that patients used a similar amount of figurative language as control participants. Second, we did not find any difference between the groups in terms of idiosyncratic interpretations, although patients did interpret more metaphors literally and controls utilized more figurative language. Third, we did not find evidence of a difference between the groups in terms of time perspectives influencing ambiguous target sentences differentially. As operationalized here, the interpretation and use of metaphors is similar in patients with schizophrenia to that of healthy control participants. To the extent that metaphors recruit semantic processes this area of cognition is generally intact in schizophrenia.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metaphor interpretation and use: A window into semantics in schizophrenia

Elvevåg

Helsen

Hert³

et al. 2011

Schizophrenia Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…21 Based on these observations, it has been suggested that automatic spreading of lexical activation is accelerated and/or travels abnormally large distances in thoughtdisordered patients with schizophrenia. 18,22 In line with this assumption, a functional neuroimaging study reported increased activity during indirect automatic priming in patients with schizophrenia compared with controls in regions associated with semantic processing. 23 This excessive spread of activation has been hypothesized to constitute the cognitive correlate of positive formal thought disorder.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 64%

“…23 This excessive spread of activation has been hypothesized to constitute the cognitive correlate of positive formal thought disorder. 9,18,21 However, it is not clear how these findings relate to the dopaminergic dysfunction assumed to underlie schizophrenia. 24,25 Several studies showing a reduction of indirect semantic priming upon administration of levodopa (L-Dopa) or dopaminergic agonists in healthy individuals [26][27][28] have led to the suggestion that dopamine (DA) increases the signalto-noise ratio within the semantic network, resulting in a more focused activation pattern.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Several studies have reported increased single-word priming in patients with schizophrenia, especially those with formal thought disorder. [7][8][9][10][11][12] Although not always replicated, [13][14][15][16][17] this hyperpriming appears to be highly consistent under conditions favouring automatic processes 18 as well as for target words either indirectly (e.g., lemon-sweet) 10,[18][19][20] or weakly associated with the prime word. 21 Based on these observations, it has been suggested that automatic spreading of lexical activation is accelerated and/or travels abnormally large distances in thoughtdisordered patients with schizophrenia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Effects of dopaminergic modulation on automatic semantic priming: a double-blind study

Andreou

Veith

Bozikas

et al. 2014

J Psychiatry Neurosci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionThe semantic priming effect refers to the observation that reaction times (i.e., pronunciation or speeded lexical decision) to a target word, such as "dog" are faster when the word is preceded by a related prime (e.g., "cat") than when it is preceded by an unrelated word (e.g., "pen").1,2 This effect is attributed to an automatic spreading of activation, initiated by the prime word, to adjacent nodes within the semantic network, 3,4 but also to controlled processes not related to the semantic store, such as attention-based expectancy (i.e., generation of predictions) and postlexical matching (i.e., evaluation of the semantic association between prime and target). 4,5 These processes can be differentially tapped by manipulating various aspects of priming paradigms, such as the primetarget interval (stimulus onset asynchrony [SOA]), the proportion of related word pairs or the nonword ratio in lexical decision designs. It is generally accepted that the contribution of controlled processes to priming becomes more pronounced with the increase of any of the aforementioned variables and is greater in lexical decision tasks than word pronunciation tasks. 5,6 Semantic priming tasks have been widely used in the schizophrenia literature. Several studies have reported increased single-word priming in patients with schizophrenia, especially those with formal thought disorder. Background: Enhanced automatic spreading of activation in the semantic network has been suggested to underlie formal thought disorder in patients with schizophrenia, but it is not clear how this relates to the dopaminergic dysfunction implicated in the disorder. Previous studies on dopaminergic modulation of priming in healthy volunteers have focused on controlled rather than automatic processes. The present study aimed to examine the effects of both a dopaminergic agonist and a dopaminergic antagonist on semantic priming while minimizing the contribution of controlled processes. Methods: We investigated the effects of levodopa (L-Dopa; 100 mg), haloperidol (2 mg) and placebo on priming in healthy participants within a randomized, double-blind, crossover design. We used a pronunciation priming task with word triplets; the middle word was an ambiguous word, whereas the first word of the triplet served to provide either a congruent, incongruent or unbiased context for the target word. Two stimulus onset asynchronies (SOA) were used: 150 ms and 750 ms. Results:The study involved 34 participants. At an SOA of 150 ms, L-Dopa accelerated responses to incongruent targets and subordinate targets of ambiguous words, whereas haloperidol was associated with faster responses in congruent contexts and dominant targets. At an SOA of 750 ms, haloperidol accelerated responses to subordinate targets. Limitations: Modulations in the relative magnitude of priming according to substance and condition rather than absolute priming were assessed. Conclusion: Effects of L-Dopa on automatic priming processes appear to be different than those on controlled processes....

show abstract

“…Word completion tasks are widely used to study different aspects of implicit memory in clinical and non-clinical populations (Geraci & Hamilton, 2009;Marques, Spataro, Cestari, Sciarretta, & Rossi-Arnaud, 2016;Mitchell & Bruss, 2003;Millet, Le Goff, Bouisson, Dartigues, & Amieva, 2010;Pomarol-Clotet, Oh, Laws, & McKenna, 2008). In these studies implicit memory has been evaluated through repetition priming, usually defined as the benefit in the processing of a stimulus when it has been recently processed (Roediger & Blaxton, 1987).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Spanish norms for completion of restricted length word stems

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study presents a normative database of Spanish restricted length word stems that provides useful information for the selection of stimuli in memory experiments with Word Stem Completion (WSC) tasks. The database includes indices relative to stems (total baseline completion, priming baseline completion, priming, number of completions, ratio between given and deleted letters, and syllabic structure), and indices relative to characteristics of the words used to obtain the stems (frequency, familiarity, number of meanings, length, number of syllables, arousal, and valence). A WSC task was performed by 515 participants to calculate priming and baseline indices. An Exploratory Factor Analysis showed that these indices are grouped in four factors: perceptual, lexical, emotional, and response competition. Stepwise regression analyses performed with these factors showed that the lexical, response competition, and perceptual factors predict priming baseline completion, while only the lexical factor predicts priming. The model that best explains the relationship between priming and priming baseline completion was a cubic model, and the optimum baseline values for achieving priming were between .31 and .36. These norms can be downloaded as Supplemental Materials for this article from https://nuvol.uv.es/owncloud/index.php/s/hpj9by1qbENdjfj.Keywords Word stems . Normative database . Implicit memory . Priming baseline completion . Priming Word completion tasks are widely used to study different aspects of implicit memory in clinical and non-clinical popula-

show abstract

Semantic priming in schizophrenia: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract: Meta-analysis provides qualified support for increased semantic priming as a psychological abnormality underlying thought disorder. However, the possibility that the effect is an artefact of general slowing of reaction time in schizophrenia has not been excluded.

Cited by 126 publications

References 45 publications

Metaphor interpretation and use: A window into semantics in schizophrenia

Metaphor interpretation and use: A window into semantics in schizophrenia

Effects of dopaminergic modulation on automatic semantic priming: a double-blind study

Spanish norms for completion of restricted length word stems

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About