Weighing the role of social cognition and executive functioning in pragmatics in the schizophrenia spectrum: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Frau, Federico; Cerami, Chiara; Dodich, Alessandra; Bosia, Marta; Bambini, Valentina

doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2024.105403

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…In particular, patients' bias towards concreteness patterned with lower neurocognitive skills, especially executive functioning, and lower mentalizing ability. This mirrors the link between pragmatic impairment and cognitive and sociocognitive deficits extensively documented in schizophrenia (Bambini et al, 2016;Binz & Brüne, 2010;Parola et al, 2018; for a comprehensive view, see Frau et al, 2024), and observed here as well (see Supplementary Figure S2). However, we did not find a direct correlation between the bias toward concreteness and symptomatology, in particular lack of abstract thinking as measured in item N5 of the PANSS.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…From Bleuler's initial idea of "disordered conceptual associations", concretism in schizophrenia has received several explanations, related to more general difficulties in abstract conceptualization (Wright, 1975), altered organization of semantic networks in associative memory (Spitzer, 1993) or, more recently, impaired cognitive and sociocognitive mechanisms (see Frau et al, 2024). Little consideration has been paid to the idea that concretism -at least for what concerns its pragmatic manifestation -could be linked to difficulties in core aspects of language processing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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From semantic concreteness to concretism in schizophrenia: An automated linguistic analysis of speech produced in figurative language interpretation

Bambini,

Frau,

Bischetti

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Lack of abstract thinking, known as concretism, is a well-known psychopathological feature of schizophrenia, reflecting the tendency to adhere to concrete aspects of stimuli and difficulties in understanding figurative language. Inspired by the similarity between “concretism” as defined in psychopathology and “concreteness” as defined in linguistics, namely a semantic dimension linked to perceptual experience, we tested the novel hypothesis that impairment in deriving figurative meanings is related to impairment at the semantic level, involving concreteness. We analyzed speech samples from 63 patients with schizophrenia and 47 controls, who were asked to verbalize the meaning of idioms, metaphors, and proverbs. By automatically extracting linguistic features from speech, we observed that patients’ answers exhibited higher word concreteness values and the related measure of word imageability, especially in proverbs, while not differing from controls’ ones in lexical richness and speech time composition. Concreteness in patients’ verbalizations negatively predicted their ability to understand proverbs and their global pragmatic and cognitive profile. This study supports the idea that concretism is rooted in semantics, linking the tendency to concrete figurative interpretations and a bias towards concrete words. In this view, impairment in figurative language understanding can be seen as a difficulty in abstracting away from perceptual-related properties associated with linguistic inputs, in the broader context of multisensory integration disruption. Furthermore, the study discloses new areas of interest for the automated analysis of speech in psychosis, pointing to the importance of considering concreteness for a better characterization of linguistic profiles and for identifying clinically relevant linguistic dimensions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From semantic concreteness to concretism in schizophrenia: An automated linguistic analysis of speech produced in figurative language interpretation

Bambini,

Frau,

Bischetti

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Are theory of mind and metaphor comprehension causally related? A training study in middle childhood

Del Sette,

Bambini,

Tonini

et al. 2024

Language Acquisition

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How Does Understanding of Social Situations and Other’s Intention Contribute to Idiom and Irony Comprehension in Autism Spectrum Disorder?

Mashal,

Lellouche

2024

Brain Sciences

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Background/Objectives: Figurative language is a central tool for enriching spoken and written languages, and it is important for building social relationships. Difficulties in figurative language understanding may impair social adjustment. Some studies have found more gaps in the understanding of irony and idioms among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to those of their peers with typical development (TD). To date, no studies have examined the relationship between the ability to understand social situations (as a separate ability) and the ability to understand irony and idioms. The present study examined the roles of theory of mind (ToM) and social situation understanding in the comprehension of idioms and ironic criticism. Methods: The current study included 58 participants aged 8–11, including 28 children with high-functioning ASD and 30 children with TD matched by age, gender, and nonverbal intelligence. All the participants completed a ToM questionnaire that assesses their understanding of others’ intentions, as well as a questionnaire pertaining to their comprehension of social situations, ironic criticism, and idioms. Results: TD children outperformed the autistic children in idiom and irony understanding, as well as in ToM and social situation understanding. Understanding social situations and ToM contributed to idiom and irony understanding, with ToM ability uniquely contributing to irony (but not to idiom) understanding. Path analysis revealed that social cognitive abilities mediated the link between group affiliation and vocabulary, affecting figurative language comprehension. Conclusions: The present study demonstrates that social cognition skills influence the ability to understand ironic criticism and idioms, mediating the association between vocabulary and figurative language comprehension.

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Weighing the role of social cognition and executive functioning in pragmatics in the schizophrenia spectrum: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Cited by 4 publications

References 113 publications

From semantic concreteness to concretism in schizophrenia: An automated linguistic analysis of speech produced in figurative language interpretation

From semantic concreteness to concretism in schizophrenia: An automated linguistic analysis of speech produced in figurative language interpretation

Are theory of mind and metaphor comprehension causally related? A training study in middle childhood

How Does Understanding of Social Situations and Other’s Intention Contribute to Idiom and Irony Comprehension in Autism Spectrum Disorder?

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