From Semantics to Feelings: How Do Individuals with Schizophrenia Rate the Emotional Valence of Words?

Ana P Pinheiro,Óscar F Gonçalves,Robert W Mccarley,Margaret Niznikiewicz,Elizabeth Thompson

doi:10.1155/2012/431823

Abstract

Schizophrenia is characterized by both emotional and language abnormalities. However, in spite of reports of preserved evaluation of valence of affective stimuli, such as pictures, it is less clear how individuals with schizophrenia assess verbal material with emotional valence, for example, the overall unpleasantness/displeasure relative to pleasantness/attraction of a word. This study aimed to investigate how schizophrenic individuals rate the emotional valence of adjectives, when compared with a group of healthy controls. One hundred and eighty-four adjectives differing in valence were presented. These adjectives were previously categorized as “neutral,” “positive” (pleasant), or “negative” (unpleasant) by five judges not participating in the current experiment. Adjectives from the three categories were matched on word length, frequency, and familiarity. Sixteen individuals with schizophrenia diagnosis and seventeen healthy controls were asked to rate the valence of each word, by using a computerized version of the Self-Assessment Manikin (Bradley and Lang, 1994). Results demonstrated similar ratings of emotional valence of words, suggesting a similar representation of affective knowledge in schizophrenia, at least in terms of the valence dimension.

Highlights

Emotional abnormalities are a hallmark of schizophrenia [1,2,3,4] and are often evident in prodromal stages of this disorder [1, 5].Recent years have seen a rapid increase in interest in emotion processing in schizophrenia
This study aimed to investigate how schizophrenic individuals rate the emotional valence of adjectives, when compared with a group of healthy controls
Some of the words that were previously categorized as “neutral” by a group of volunteers were rated more positively by individuals with schizophrenia when compared with healthy controls (HC), such as “blue”

Summary

Introduction

Emotional abnormalities are a hallmark of schizophrenia [1,2,3,4] and are often evident in prodromal stages of this disorder [1, 5].Recent years have seen a rapid increase in interest in emotion processing in schizophrenia. Dimensional theories of emotion propose that emotions can be characterized along a small number of underlying and separable dimensions, such as valence (the overall unpleasantness/displeasure relative to pleasantness/attraction of a stimulus) and arousal (the intensity of motivational mobilization—appetitive or defensive) [13,14,15]. This assumption is supported by brain functional imaging (e.g., [16]) and event-related potential (ERP) studies (e.g., [17]) indicating differential effects of valence and arousal on brain activation and function. A discrete emotions approach holds that emotions may be distinguished from one another according to a set of features [18]

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