Le problème de l’analyse des troubles de la pensée dans le discours avec la personne schizophrène : proposition méthodologique

Abstract

ObjectiveWe are designing the beginnings of a methodology for the analysis of discursive disorders that will have the particularity of helping to pinpoint the discontinuous sequences that are most likely to signal the presence of thought disorders. We anticipate the development of a modeling system based on principles of pragmatic linguistics and formal semantics, which, applied to carefully selected discontinuous discourse sequences, will have a good chance of revealing the nature of the underlying thought disorders. MethodWe proceed to the analysis of the experimental literature in cognitive psychopathology that aims at identifying the cognitive processes, in this case related to semantic memory and executive functions, which are believed to define thought disorders. We confront this paradigm with other approaches in cognitive psychology and the philosophy of language that explore the language of thought. The combined theoretical and empirical findings allow us to arrive at a set of conjectures that anticipate the pragmatic and semantic properties of discourse transactions that are likely signs of disorders. ResultsWe compare these conjectures with the results of a previous study on the discovery of four “proven” types of discontinuous sequences; and we show which of these sequences can thus be considered as symptomatic of thought disorders. In continuity, we analyze some of these sequences by testing some principles of semantic modeling in order to identify the nature of the disorders and thought operations underlying the relevant discontinuous sequences. DiscussionWe show that discursive thought disorders should not be considered simply as an expression of a dysexecutive syndrome but also as a device that is likely to affect more complex thought operations, such as the inferences involved in the representation system of the conversational context, in the meaning calculus of the utterances, and in the speaker's meaning calculus. Improving the heuristics of formal systems for recognizing discourse disorders and interpreting thought disorders on the basis of more appropriate and accurate semantic modeling may lead to the development of more discriminating and effective diagnostic tools. ConclusionThe format of the formal systems that we have created will allow us to represent the interlocutory structure of the disorder in its natural context of expression with increasing precision, and should lead to the development of computerized tools to assist in diagnosis. Finally, the increased precision of formal modeling applied to communication disorders should also allow us to test the hypothesis according to which certain discursive configurations are based on thought disorders (in a broad sense) whereas others reveal cognitive dysfunctions that have to do, rather, with the conditions of possibility of discourse.