SCHIZOPHRENIA SPEECH MARKERS PSYCHOLINGUISTIC IDENTIFICATION ALGORITHM

Abstract

In the article, the authors highlight the peculiarities of schizophrenia speech manifestations and presents an algorithm for its identification. The algorithm consists of four stages, which include the respondents’ oral and written speech analysis which considers the specifics of systemic speech indicators, associative reactions and grapheme features. The first stage features oral communication with patients, during which they are asked to answer questions about their past, general orientation in space and time, etc., which is generally consistent with the tactics of questioning, but in the projection not only on psychomental peculiarities, but on the linguistic indicators as well. This way we get an idea of the level of the patient’s general communicative competence. The results of the study are recorded in the according table. During the second stage, the authors utilize an associative experiment, the results of which are compared with the results of mentally healthy respondents and are also recorded in the table. Such comparative analysis reveals the conceptual differences between the respondents’ associative background and makes it possible to identify informative semantic segments. During the third stage, patients are asked to write a short essay about their daily routine, the most memorable day in life, which helps to determine their personal view of events, perceptions of such events, and illustrates the grapheme features of speech realizations. The results are also recorded in the table. The fourth stage involves the analysis and generalization of the results. The scientific novelty of article is that it is the first one to present a comprehensive algorithm for examining the speech of patients with schizophrenia, in particular at the level of their oral and written speech. The theoretical significance of the study is determined by the possibility of utilizing the findings in an in-depth study of speech features of patients with schizophrenia at different stages, considering the most informative language indicators, as well as in further development of pathopsycholinguistics general theory, altered consciousness states studies and other related studies. The practical value of the obtained results is determined by the possibility of utilizing them in developing methods for speech correction of mentally ill people and in the recognition of such diseases at the initial stage.