Establishing diagnostic criteria: the role of clinical pragmatics

The study of pragmatic disorders is of interest to speech-language pathologists who have a professional responsibility to assess and treat communication impairments. However, these disorders, it will be argued in this paper, have a significance beyond the clinical management of clients with communication impairments. Specifically, pragmatic disorders can now make a contribution to the diagnosis of a range of clinical conditions in which communication is adversely affected. These conditions include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the autistic spectrum disorders, schizophrenia and the dementias. Pragmatic disorders are already among the criteria used to diagnose some of these conditions (e.g. ADHD), although they are not described in these terms. In other conditions (e.g. the dementias), pragmatic disorders have potential diagnostic value in the absence of reliable biomarkers markers of these conditions and similar initial presenting symptoms. Using clinical data, and the findings of empirical studies, the case is made for the inclusion and/or greater integration of pragmatic disorders in the formal classificatory systems that are used to diagnose a range of disorders. A previously unrecognised role for pragmatic impairments in the nosology and diagnosis of clinical disorders is thereby established

A PSYCHOLINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF SCHIZOPHRENIC SPEECH REFLECTING HALLUCINATION AND DELUSION IN THE CAVEMAN’S VALENTINE

The objectives of this research are (1) to explain the speech abnormalities of a schizophrenic character, Romulus, in The Caveman’s Valentine; and (2) to present the characteristics of schizophrenia represented by Romulus in his speech. This research employed a descriptive qualitative method. It was concerned with the description of the data in the form of utterances produced by the schizophrenic character, Romulus, in which the phenomena of schizophrenic speech abnormalities exist. Quantification of the data was also done in this research, only to strengthen the answer of the first objective. Meanwhile, for the second objective, the explanation is without number. Finally, in order to support the credibility of the data findings, data trustworthiness was maintained in the form of triangulation and peer discussion (peer debriefing). The findings of this research show that first, among the eight types of schizophrenic speech abnormalities, only four of them occur. They are looseness, perseveration of ideas, peculiar use of words, and non-logical reasoning (peculiar logic). Looseness is the first most-often appearing phenomenon, followed by perseveration of ideas, peculiar use of words, and non-logical reasoning (peculiar logic). Second, all characteristics of schizophrenia, i.e. hallucination and delusion, are also shown in the movie. Hallucination is represented by the occurrence of visual and auditory hallucination, while delusion is represented by the occurrence of paranoid delusion and delusion of reference. In addition, for the characteristics of schizophrenia, the number of the occurrence of each phenomenon is not important since the existence of each characteristic is enough to judge that someone suffers from schizophrenia. Keywords : schizophrenia, looseness, perseveration of ideas, peculiar use of words, non-logical reasoning (peculiar logic), hallucination, delusion, The Caveman’s Valentin

Is executive impairment associated with schizophrenic syndromes? A meta-analysis

Original article can be found at: http://journals.cambridge.org/ Copyright Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/S0033291708003887A key neuropsychological proposal in schizophrenia is that negative and disorganization symptoms are associated with different patterns of impairment on executive tasks. Reporting correlations between positive, negative or disorganization symptoms and any type of executive test were meta-analysed. The influence of moderating factors was also examined, including age, treatment and stage of illness and whether symptoms were relapsing or persistent. The magnitudes of the correlations were compared with those for general intellectual impairment. Pooled correlations between executive impairment and both negative symptoms and disorganization were significant in the small-to-moderate range. That for positive symptoms (‘reality distortion’), however, was close to zero. The pattern of correlations among different executive tests differed significantly for negative symptoms and disorganization. Patients with stable clinical pictures showed significantly higher correlations with executive impairment than those with relapsing and remitting illnesses. Both negative symptoms and disorganization also correlated significantly with general intellectual function as indexed by current IQ. Meta-analysis supports the view that negative symptoms and disorganization are associated with partially dissociable patterns of executive impairment. However, co-existent general intellectual impairment has been an important confounding factor in the studies to date.Peer reviewe

Analysis of errors in verbal fluency tasks in patients with chronic schizophrenia

Background and Objectives: Even if verbal fluency deficits have been described in Schizophrenia, error pattern in this test has not been analyzed in detail in the literature. The pattern analysis of such errors could contribute to the understanding of the factors that influence poor task performance in schizophrenia. In this study we analyzed the intrusion and perseveration errors in verbal fluency tasks in patients with chronic schizophrenia. Methods: 87 patients diagnosed with Chronic Schizophrenia and 87 healthy controls were included in this investigation and were assessed with four Phonological and Semantic Verbal Fluency tasks. Results The results of this study showed that at least half of schizophrenic patients produced perseverative errors on verbal fluency and about made intrusion errors. The severity of negative symptoms, the severity of Formal Thought Disorder and pharmacological variables were significant moderators to errors in Verbal Fluency performance. Conclusions Errors in Verbal Fluency can be explained by the interaction of different variables in patients with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a psychological pathology with great phenomenological complexity and its particularities can only be explained by the consideration of the multiple factors involved in its manifestation.Fil: Galaverna, Flavia Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: Bueno, Adrián Marcelo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Psicología; ArgentinaFil: Morra, Carlos A.. Prof. León S. Morra Sanitarium; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Roca, María. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; ArgentinaFil: Torralva, Teresa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva. Fundación Favaloro. Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva; Argentin

Source monitoring and memory confidence in schizophrenia

BACKGROUND: The present study attempted to extend previous research on source monitoring deficits in schizophrenia. We hypothesized that patients would show a bias to attribute self-generated words to an external source. Furthermore, it was expected that schizophrenic patients would be overconfident regarding false memory attributions. METHOD: Thirty schizophrenic and 21 healthy participants were instructed to provide a semantic association for 20 words. Subsequently, a list was read containing experimenter- and self-generated words as well as new words. The subject was required to identify each item as old/new, name the source. and state the degree of confidence for the source attribution. RESULTS: Schizophrenic patients displayed a significantly increased number of source attribution errors and were significantly more confident than controls that a false source attribution response was true. The latter bias was ameliorated by higher doses of neuroleptics. CONCLUSIONS: It is inferred that a core cognitive deficit underlying schizophrenia is a failure to distinguish false from true mnestic contents

Explaining Schizophrenia: Auditory Verbal Hallucination and Self‐Monitoring

Do self‐monitoring accounts, a dominant account of the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, explain auditory verbal hallucination? In this essay, I argue that the account fails to answer crucial questions any explanation of auditory verbal hallucination must address. Where the account provides a plausible answer, I make the case for an alternative explanation: auditory verbal hallucination is not the result of a failed control mechanism, namely failed self‐monitoring, but, rather, of the persistent automaticity of auditory experience of a voice. My argument emphasizes the importance of careful examination of phenomenology as providing substantive constraints on causal models of the positive symptoms in schizophrenia

The Role of Pragmatics in Cross-cultural

We here try to find out the role of pragmatics in the cross-cultural contexts. Pragmatics is the way we convey meaning through communication (Deda, 2013). Other factors beyond competence are the adjustments between contexts and situations that can change the ordinary meaning of elements/sentences according to the language situation. The culture of an organization decides the way employees behave amongst themselves as well as the people outside the organization. Pragmatic culture more emphasis is placed on the clients and the external parties. Customer satisfaction is the main motive of the employees in a pragmatic culture. In linguistics, pragmatic competence is the ability to use language effectively in a contextually appropriate fashion. Pragmatic competence is a fundamental aspect of a more general communicative competence