Anomalous Perception Research Articles

The Myth of the Decline Effect in Psi Research: The Empirical Evidence

The decline effect (DE) has been discussed in “psi” research since the early times of experimental investigations, and many causes have been advanced from: individual psychology, social attitudes, electromagnetic fields, experimental artifacts, or physical properties often related to quantum physics. Bierman (2001) found small and statistically significant decline slopes in all experimental protocols, but the mind-matter interaction with random number generators, where he found a positive quadratic polynomial slope. This study aimed to update Bierman’s results, taking into account all studies completed up to 2023 and analyzed in different meta-analyses. Five experimental protocols were analyzed: including anomalous perception in a Ganzfeld condition, remote viewing, forced-choice design in extra-sensory perception, predictive physiological anticipation, and dream extra-sensory perception studies. The results showed that only one slope coefficient out of the five examined was statistically significant, indicating that there was no evidence of a general DE across the different experimental protocols.

Creative puppet therapy reduces hallucinations in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia: Preliminary findings

Anomalous experiences and hallucinations characterize schizophrenia. This study aimed at determining the efficacy of creative puppet therapy (CPT; creation of a puppet with malleable DAS) to reduce severe anomalous experiences and hallucinations among patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Double-blinded, controlled trials were performed on a convenience sample of 24 patients from a mental health center. The intervention group of 12 patients (who created puppets) and the pseudo-treatment group of 12 patients (who were involved in outdoor leisure trips) were compared to the control group of 12 control participants (who created puppets). Cardiff Anomalous Perceptions Scale (CAPS) assessed hallucinations; Emotional Expression Inventory (EEXI) assessed the emotional expression of one's own puppet. Puppet facial features were measured. Results showed that CPT effectively reduced (d = –4.00) hallucination frequency in patients. Hallucination reduction occurred across all sensory modalities, but touch and bodily interoception. Exteroceptive vs. interoceptive hallucinations was the most valuable classification in patients. Compared to controls, puppets created by patients expressed more negative emotions and had larger eye diameters, shorter noses, and larger whole face width. Eye diameter was correlated with fear, sadness, anger, and disgust, and whole face width with boredom. Fragmented-self integration of schizophrenia through CPT treatment might exploit aggregative dominance of the patient's own body.

Capgras delusion from 1923 to the present: A psychological point of view

Research on the Capgras delusion has often involved different strands that have tended to focus on underlying neurological or psychological factors. Both approaches are necessary to a full understanding. From a psychological perspective, the Capgras delusion has been thought to be created by an unfortunate interaction of problems at different levels. The first level involves anomalous perceptual experience in the form of a loss of preparatory emotional responses that causes things to seem strange, unfamiliar and even somewhat unreal. The second level involves a constellation of factors that lead to an incorrect interpretation of this anomalous experience. Hence the delusion has been considered to represent patients’ attempts to make sense of their anomalous perceptual experience. There is a reasonable fit between this psychological account of the Capgras delusion and the neurological findings.

Stage 2 Registered Report: Anomalous perception in a Ganzfeld condition - A meta-analysis of more than 40 years investigation

This meta-analysis is an investigation into anomalous perception (i.e., conscious identification of information without any conventional sensorial means). The technique used for eliciting an effect is the Ganzfeld condition (a form of sensory homogenization that eliminates distracting peripheral noise). The database consists of studies published between January 1974 and December 2020 inclusive. The overall effect size estimated both with a frequentist and a Bayesian random-effect model, were in close agreement yielding an effect size of approximately .08 (.04 -.12). This result passed four publication bias tests and seems not contaminated by questionable research practices. Trend analysis carried out with a cumulative meta-analysis and a meta-regression model with year of publication as a covariate, did not indicate sign of decline of this effect size. The moderators’ analyses show that the selected participants’ effect size was almost three-times that obtained by non-selected participants and that tasks that simulate telepathic communication show a two-fold effect size for tasks requiring the participants to guess a target. The Stage 1 Registered Report can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.24868.3

The relation between autism and psychosis: overlapping and differing features

IntroductionAutism spectrum disorders (ASD) and schizophrenia (SCZ) have a strong historic connection. At the beginning of the 20th century when referring to schizophrenic patients Eugen Bleuler used the term autism to describe the apparent withdrawal from the outside world. Other authors also emphasized the association between this two entities. In fact, only in DSM-III were these disorders placed in different diagnostic categories. Today, even though this nosological vision still prevails, a growing number of studies have shown significant overlaps between the two disorders. Patients with the diagnosis of ASD often experience psychotic symptoms and similarly schizophrenic patients have a high prevalence of autistic traits.ObjectivesTo clarify the distinction between ASD and psychotic disorders, namely to help the clinical and phenomenological distinction between patients with a primary psychotic disorder versus patients with the diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder that might also experience psychotic symptoms.MethodsResearch on UpToDate using the terms “Autism Spectrum Disorders”; “Schizophrenia” and “psychosis”.ResultsDelusional beliefs and paranoid ideation are common findings in autistic individuals in the same way that they constitute one of the main features of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. However, in ASD individuals one must be vigilant of its distinction with “childish fantasies”. Both disorders (ASD and SCZ spectrum disorders) share Theory of Mind (ToM) impairments that contribute to the development of paranoia.Sensory anomalies are common in ASD and might be confused with hallucinations. However, anomalous perceptual experiences can and do often happen in ASD and are clinically overlapping with hallucinatory phenomena. In the case of a neurodevelopment disorder, however, they could probably be better understood as a part of it more than the signal of a co-ocurring psychotic disorder. Attenuated psychotic symptoms pose an even more complex subject because of the overlap between autistic symptoms and subclinical psychotic symptoms. Another area that poses diagnostic difficulties has to do with the distinction between negative symptoms seen in schizophrenia and autistic symptoms. Lack of emotional reciprocity in ASD can be confused with “blunted” affect in schizophrenia.Other overlapping features between these two entities can be identified.ConclusionsThe diagnostic boundaries between ASD and SCZ are not always clear. Their overlapping characteristics and potential co-occurrence might pose important diagnostic challenges in clinical practice. The clinical course of both diseases frequently represents a key element for the differential diagnosis between autism and psychosis. The profound knowledge of these two entities is of extreme importance contributing to the implementation of more targeted and effective management strategies.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Carl Jung: a life on the edge of reality with hypnagogia, hyperphantasia, and hallucinations.

Whether the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung (1875-1961) became psychotic after his mid-thirties is much debated. His recently published Black Books, a seven-volume journal, reveal new insights into this debate. Based on a phenomenological analysis of his self-reports in these books and in other writings, we here identify several types of anomalous perceptual experiences: hypnagogic-hypnopompic experiences, hyperphantasia, hallucinations, personifications, and sensed presence. We argue that these experiences were not indicative of a psychotic disorder, but rather stemmed from extremely vivid mental imagery, or hyperphantasia, a condition Jung's contemporaries and later biographers were unable to take into account because it had not yet been conceptualised. Recently, the degree of vividness of mental imagery and its potential to become indistinguishable from regular sense perception has been the subject of extensive studies. Unknowingly, Jung may have foreshadowed this line of research with his psychoanalytic concept of reality equivalence, i.e., the substitution of an external world for an inner mental reality that he encountered in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia. There is a need for future research to investigate the possible role of hyperphantasia in psychotic experiences, but to Jung, psychosis was 'a failure to contain and comprehend' the content of one's experiences in the context of one's own life, whereas he himself did manage to put the content of his perceptual experiences into context, to find meaning in them, and to share them with others - to great acknowledgement and acclaim.

Sleep spindle activity and psychotic experiences: Examining the mediating roles of attentional performance and perceptual distortions in a daytime nap study

Decreased sleep spindle activity in individuals with psychotic disorders is well studied, but its contribution to psychotic symptom formation is not well understood. This study explored potential underlying mechanisms explaining the association between decreased sleep spindle activity and psychotic symptoms. To this end, we analysed the links between sleep spindle activity and psychotic experiences and probed for the mediating roles of attentional performance and perceptual distortions in a community sample of young adults (N = 70; 26.33 ± 4.84 years). Polysomnography was recorded during a 90-min daytime nap and duration, amplitude, and density from slow (10–13 Hz) and fast (13–16 Hz) spindles were extracted. Attentional performance was assessed via a test battery and with an antisaccadic eye movement task. Psychotic experiences (i.e., paranoid thoughts; hallucinatory experiences) and perceptual distortions (i.e., anomalous perceptions; sensory gating deficits) were assessed via self-report questionnaires. We conducted sequential mediation analyses with spindle activity as predictor, psychotic experiences as dependent variable, and attentional performance and perceptual distortions as mediators. We found reduced right central spindle amplitude to be associated with paranoid thoughts. Increased antisaccadic error rate was associated with anomalous perceptions and perceptual distortions were associated with psychotic experiences. We did not find significant mediation effects. The findings support the notion that reduced sleep spindle activity is involved in the formation of paranoid thoughts and that decreased antisaccadic performance is indicative of perceptual distortions as potential precursors for psychotic experiences. However, further research is needed to corroborate the proposed mediation hypothesis.

Stage 2 Registered Report: Anomalous perception in a Ganzfeld condition - A meta-analysis of more than 40 years investigation.

This meta-analysis is an investigation into anomalous perception (i.e., conscious identification of information without any conventional sensorial means). The technique used for eliciting an effect is the Ganzfeld condition (a form of sensory homogenization that eliminates distracting peripheral noise). The database consists of studies published between January 1974 and December 2020 inclusive. The overall effect size estimated both with a frequentist and a Bayesian random-effect model, were in close agreement yielding an effect size of approximately .08 (.04 -.12). This result passed four publication bias tests and seems not contaminated by questionable research practices. Trend analysis carried out with a cumulative meta-analysis and a meta-regression model with year of publication as a covariate, did not indicate sign of decline of this effect size. The moderators' analyses show that the selected participants' effect size was almost three-times that obtained by non-selected participants and that tasks that simulate telepathic communication show a two-fold effect size for tasks requiring the participants to guess a target. The Stage 1 Registered Report can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.24868.3.

Can you believe your eyes? Positive schizotypy is associated with increased susceptibility to the Müller-Lyer illusion

Background and hypothesisVisual illusions provide a unique opportunity to understand cognitive and perceptual alterations in schizophrenia-spectrum conditions. Schizophrenia patients often exhibit increased susceptibility to the Müller-Lyer illusion. Here, we investigate susceptibility to the Müller-Lyer visual illusion in the general population with different levels of schizotypy. Study designWe assessed a population-based convenience sample (N = 263) on an online platform. In addition to basic demographics, participants completed the Müller-Lyer illusion, the Cardiff Anomalous Perceptions Scale (CAPS) to measure perceptual anomalies, and the Multidimensional Schizotypy Scale – Brief (MSS-B) for schizotypic traits. To evaluate what predicts susceptibility to the illusion, we fitted a large set of multilevel logistic regression models and performed model averaging over the coefficients. Study resultsWe found support for increased illusion susceptibility among individuals with high positive schizotypy. However, we did not find a comparable effect for anomalous perceptions alone, or for negative or disorganized schizotypy. ConclusionsThe increased Müller-Lyer effect in positive schizotypy might be specific to delusion-like beliefs and magical ideation. Further research is needed to clarify how a hierarchical Bayesian formulation of brain function (e.g. imbalances between bottom-up perceptual processing and substantial reliance on prior expectations) can account for the Müller-Lyer effect in schizophrenia-spectrum conditions.

The dimensionality of perceptual anomalies and their relationships with bullying victimization among Chinese adolescents: From a network perspective

Anomalous perceptual experiences in adolescents are common and may predict future psychotic disorders and other psychopathologies. However, the underlying structure and their specific relationships with bullying victimizations, a typical stressor for adolescents, remain unclear. Therefore, the current study aimed to clarify the structure of perceptual anomalies as assessed by the Cardiff Anomalous Perceptions Scale (CAPS) using exploratory graph analysis (EGA), a new factor retention method based on network psychometrics. The second aim was to explore whether specific dimensions of perceptual anomalies are particularly associated with certain forms of bullying victimization. Data from a validated sample of 1199 Chinese adolescents (56.0 % females, age range: 14–20) on perceptual anomalies and bullying victimizations were analyzed using network approaches, including EGA and mixed graphical modeling (mgm). Results showed that each anomalous perception was experienced by 13.8–50.3 % of the participants. EGA identified four dimensions: aberrant bodily perceptions, altered daily experiences, chemosensation (i.e., abnormal gustatory and olfactory experiences), and clinical psychosis (i.e., visual and auditory hallucinatory experiences). Among them, the altered daily experiences dimension possessed the highest centrality. Physical bullying and cyberbullying were directly and positively linked to two of the aberrant bodily experiences. Bootstrap analyses suggest that the results are reliable. The current findings support the existence of multiple contributive factors to perceptual anomalies and underscore the importance of bullying prevention in reducing mental health risks for adolescents, particularly the risk of psychosis.

Phenomenology of AI-Generated "Entity Encounter" Narratives

Objective: We used the ChatGPT-3.5 artificial intelligence (AI)-based language program to compare twelve types of mystical, supernatural, or otherwise anomalous entity encounter narratives constructed from material in the publicly available corpus of information, and compared their details to the phenomenology of spontaneous accounts via the Survey of Strange Events (SSE) and the grounded theory of Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S). Methods: Structured content analysis by two independent and masked raters explored whether the composite AI-narratives would: (a) cover each encounter type, (b) map to the SSE’s Rasch hierarchy of anomalous perceptions, (c) show an average SSE score, and (d) reference the five recognition patterns of HP-S. Results: We found moderate evidence of a core encounter phenomenon underlying the AI-narratives. Every encounter type was represented by an AI-generated description that readily mapped to the SSE, albeit their contents showed only fair believability and low but generally positive correlations with each other. The narratives also corresponded to below-average SSE scores and referenced at least one HP-S recognition pattern. Conclusions: Prototypical depictions of entity encounter experiences based on popular source material certainly approximate, yet not fully match, the phenomenology of their real-life counterparts. We discuss the implications of these outcomes for future studies.

A Bayesian predictive processing account of Othello syndrome in Parkinson’s disease

ABSTRACT Introduction: Although delusions in Parkinson’s disease (PD) are rare, when they occur they frequently take the form of “Othello syndrome”: the irrational belief that a spouse or partner is being unfaithful. Hitherto dismissed as either a by-product of dopamine therapy or cognitive impairment, there are still no convincing theoretical accounts to explain why only some patients fall prey to this delusion, or why it persists despite clear disconfirmatory evidence. Methods: We discuss the limitations of existing explanations of this delusion, namely hyperdopaminergia-induced anomalous perceptual experiences and cognitive impairment, before describing how Bayesian predictive processing accounts can provide a more comprehensive explanation by foregrounding the importance of prior experience and its impact upon computation of probability. We illustrate this new conceptualisation with three case vignettes. Results: We suggest that in those with prior experience of romantic betrayal, hyperdominergic-induced aberrant prediction errors enable anomalous perceptual experiences to accrue greater prominence, which is then maintained through Bayes-optimal inferencing to confirm cognitive distortions, eliciting and shaping this dangerous delusion. Conclusions: We propose the first comprehensive mechanistic account of Othello syndrome in PD and discuss implications for clinical interventions.

Five types of anomalous perceptions created by the same mirror-reflection process

The real world and its mirror image are plane symmetric to each other with respect to a mirror surface, but mirror images are often perceived differently due to optical illusions. This paper shows that there are at least five types of different illusory perceptions of mirror images of pictures, although they arise from the same optical process. In all five illusions, we place a 2D picture of a 3D object horizontally, and see its image reflected by a vertical mirror. In some cases, the left and the right are reversed (left-right reversal illusion), sometimes horizontal planes change their heights (height reversal illusion), sometimes a lying object rises up (lying-standing illusion), sometimes the object turns upside down as if having done a somersault (somersault illusion), and sometimes the object is replaced by a rather different object (replacement illusion). This paper examines why these illusions occur from geometrical and psychological points of view.

Stage 2 Registered Report: Anomalous perception in a Ganzfeld condition - A meta-analysis of more than 40 years investigation

This meta-analysis is an investigation into anomalous perception (i.e., conscious identification of information without any conventional sensorial means). The technique used for eliciting an effect is the ganzfeld condition (a form of sensory homogenization that eliminates distracting peripheral noise). The database consists of studies published between January 1974 and December 2020 inclusive. The overall effect size estimated both with a frequentist and a Bayesian random-effect model, were in close agreement yielding an effect size of .099 (.05-.14). This result passed four publication bias tests and seems not contaminated by questionable research practices. Trend analysis carried out with a cumulative meta-analysis and a meta-regression model with Year of publication as covariate did not indicate a sign of the decline of this effect size. The moderators' analyses show that selected participants' outcomes were almost three times those obtained by non-selected participants and that tasks that simulate telepathic communication show a two-fold effect size with respect to tasks requiring the participants to guess a target. The Stage 1 Registered Report can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.24868.3

Loneliness and objective social isolation are differentially associated with anomalous perceptions in community-dwelling older adults

ABSTRACT Introduction Anomalous perceptions are characterised by the subjective experience of a range of distorted and/or hallucinatory percepts. Whilst considerable attention has been paid to the neurocognitive processes contributing to anomalous perceptions amongst older adults, less is known about the social factors (e.g. social isolation, loneliness). Furthermore, it is unknown whether loneliness and social isolation are associated with different types of anomalous perceptions, including anomalous body-centred self-experiences and anomalous external experiences. Methods This study examined the cross-sectional relationships between loneliness, objective social isolation, and anomalous perceptions in a sample of community-dwelling older adults (N = 242, M age = 71.87 ± 7.73, range = 52-91, 67.8% female) using structural equation modelling. Results Higher levels of loneliness were associated with more anomalous body-centred self-experiences and anomalous external experiences. Those reporting more loneliness also reported higher levels of anxiety and depression; however, the relationship between loneliness and anomalous perceptions was not mediated by these factors. Social disconnection from a religious group was associated with more anomalous external experiences and being married/living with a partner was associated with more anomalous body-centred self-experiences. Conclusions These findings suggest that loneliness and social isolation have differential associations with anomalous perceptions in older adults and provide additional evidence that attending to loneliness in older adults is important.

Visual illusions in young people reporting psychotic-like experiences

Background and objectivesA disruption in the co-ordination of bottom-up and top-down processing is thought to underlie anomalous perceptual experiences in psychosis. Visual illusions represent a valuable methodology in exploring this disruption. Here, we examined visual illusions in a group of young people having psychotic-like experiences. We also examined the relationship between illusion susceptibility and appraisal of psychotic-like experiences as well as depression, anxiety and stress levels. Method25 young people reporting psychotic-like experiences and 53 healthy participants performed an adjustment task that measured susceptibility to a battery of 13 visual illusions. Levels of depression, anxiety and stress were quantified in both groups. The clinical group also completed measures examining frequency, appraisals and emotional responses to psychotic-like experiences. ResultsA general increase of illusion susceptibility was found in the clinical group compared to the control group. However, when depression, anxiety and stress levels were controlled for, this difference disappeared. Stress turned out to be the best predictor of illusion susceptibility in the clinical group, whereas anomalous experiences, depression and anxiety were unrelated to overall illusion strength. LimitationsThis study is limited to young participants reporting significant mental health difficulties and psychotic-like experiences. Findings should be replicated in an Ultra High Risk (prodromal) group. ConclusionsIncreased levels of stress explained the enhanced vulnerability to illusions in the clinical group. This increased susceptibility suggests a perceptual style that relies too heavily on prior expectations at the expense of the true sensory evidence, potentially leading to an altered perceptual experience of the world.

The association between childhood bullying victimisation and childhood maltreatment with the clinical expression of bipolar disorder

Adverse childhood experiences are significantly associated with a worse clinical expression of bipolar disorder, however, the literature has mainly focused on childhood maltreatment (abuse and neglect) with little attention paid to other forms of adversity, such as childhood bullying victimisation (referred to here as bullying), although this is known to have a negative impact on different psychiatric illnesses. The current study aimed to investigate the association between bullying victimisation and the clinical expression of bipolar disorder individually and in combination with childhood maltreatment. This investigation consisted of 63 individuals with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder (mean age 61.4 years) who completed the Retrospective Bullying Questionnaire and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire to measure exposure to bullying and childhood maltreatment, respectively. The clinical expression variables were assessed using self-report instruments, these were: the Cardiff Anomalous Perceptions Scale (psychotic symptoms), Suicide Behaviours Questionnaire, Self-Report Manic Inventory, Beck Anxiety and Depression Inventories. The results showed that exposure to bullying was significantly associated with more suicidal behaviours (F(1,61) = 11.02, p < .01, η2 = 0.15) and psychotic symptoms (F(1,61) = 4.21, p < .05, η2 = .06). When bullying and childhood maltreatment histories were combined, the results showed that individuals with a history of both adversity types reported significantly more suicidal behaviours (F(2,60) = 6.59, p < .01, R2=.18) compared to those with a history of one or neither form of adversity. The sample size, age and gender distribution, limit the generalisability of the findings. However, the current results underscore the need to account for bullying victimisation when considering the adverse childhood experiences-bipolar disorder relationship, especially its clinical expression.

'Feeling' or 'sensing' the future? Testing for anomalous cognitions in clinical versus healthy populations

In the study and treatment of psychosis, emotional intelligence (EI) and thinking styles are important patient characteristics for successful outcomes in clinical intervention. Anticipation of unpredictable stimuli (AUS) may be understood as an anomalous perception and anomalous cognition in which an individual supposedly senses and recognizes future stimuli in an unexpected way, also referred to as “hunches or premonitions.” This examined the roles of EI and thinking styles in AUSs in convenience samples of healthy participants (n = 237) versus patients diagnosed with psychosis (n = 118). We adjusted several quadratic and exponential regression models according to the obtained functions. Group means were also compared to examine differences in EI scores for participants with psychosis compared to healthy participants. In the healthy group, EI predicted AUSs with a weight between 42% and 58%. Thinking styles were not correlated with AUSs. However, EI was not correlated with AUSs in the clinical group. Patients with psychosis tended to score higher on AUSs and lower on EI and thinking styles compared to participants in the healthy group. We discuss EI as a variable that can contextualize some anomalous perceptions which are otherwise difficult to classify or measure within the classic psychosis continuum model.

Ganzflicker Reveals the Complex Relationship Between Visual Mental Imagery and Pseudo-Hallucinatory Experiences: A Replication and Expansion

Rhythmic visual flicker is known to elicit pseudo-hallucinations, making it an up-and-coming method to investigate anomalous perceptual experiences without pharmaceutical intervention. Ganzflicker is a full-screen visual flicker that can be experienced online. In the first exploratory Ganzflicker paper (N = 204), we investigated whether people with different self-reported visual mental imagery abilities report different visual experiences in the Ganzflicker. Results showed that people with no-to-low imagery (aphantasia distribution) were much less likely to experience complex and vivid pseudo-hallucinations compared to people with moderate-to-vivid imagery (imagery distribution). In this follow-up, I collected data from 6664 individuals from around the world, replicated the main results of the previous study, and additionally found that people from the imagery distribution report more frequent pseudo-hallucinations for a longer duration than people from the aphantasia distribution. I also conducted new analyses across individual imagery vividness ratings. This revealed a dramatic increase in susceptibility to pseudo-hallucinations from reports of “no imagery” to “low imagery vividness” within the aphantasia distribution. There is a positive linear relationship between imagery vividness and pseudo-hallucination vividness, whereas the relationship between imagery vividness and pseudo-hallucination complexity is categorical, as indicated by a jump in the likelihood to experience complex pseudo-hallucinations from the aphantasia distribution to the imagery distribution with no evidence for within-distribution variations. Finally, word cloud analyses of written descriptions of Ganzflicker experiences revealed unique language used by individuals from each distribution. In sum, Ganzflicker is an accessible, efficient, and effective method of investigating multiple aspects of anomalous perceptual experiences in people with different mental imagery abilities.

Cognitive biases in first psychotic episode with Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder: a controlled study

IntroductionCognitive biases are a core feature of psychotic disorders. Moreover, people with first episode of psychosis (FEP) have more difficulties in social cognition, in particular in theory of mind. On the other hand, deficits in processing speed and distractibility appear to be core features of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and impairment in these basic processes can lead to deficits in more complex functions, that could induced to cognitive biases.ObjectivesTo evaluate whether FEP with and without ADHD differ in the rate and type of cognitive biases.MethodsParticipants 121 FEP treated at the Early Intervention Service of Reus and aged between 14 and 28 years. Instruments : The Diagnostic Interview for ADHD (DIVA) and the Cognitive Biases Questionnaire for Psychosis (CBQp) measuring 2 themes : anomalous perception (AP) and threatening events (TE) and 5 cognitive biases: Intentionalising (Int) , Catastrophising (Cat), Dichotomous thinking (DT), Jumping to conclusions (JTC) and Emotional reasoning (ER)Results31 out 121 (25.6%) met criteria for childhood ADHD. Compared with FEP ADHD- , FEP-ADHD+ presented significant higher scores in the CBQp total score (U= 2.538 ; p=0.001), the AP theme (U=2.262; p=0.02) , the TE theme (U= 2.242 ; p=0.02) and DT bias ((U= 2.188 ; p=0.03)ConclusionsOur findings support the fact that subjects with FEP-ADHD+ presented more cognitive biases than those ADHD-. So, FEP-ADHD+ subjects could represent a clinical subgroup with a worse prognosis than FEP-ADHD - subjects, presenting more delusions, distress and a worse cognitive insight.DisclosureNo significant relationships.