Interpretations of proverbs in schizophrenic patients. Further studies

Brattemo, Carl-Erik

doi:10.1016/0001-6918(62)90022-7

Cited by 13 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Nonliteral language impairment could theoretically separate between these disorders as there is some evidence that higher order language performance may be different between these two groups (Murray, 2010). However, it is important to note that there is some evidence for nonliteral language impairment in depression among younger subjects (Brattemo, 1962;Carter, 1986;Iakimova, Passerieux, & Hardy-Baylé, 2006). These studies did not address depression in older populations.…”

Section: Implications For Clinical Practice and Further Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonliteral Language in Alzheimer Dementia: A Review

Rapp

Wild

2011

J Int Neuropsychol Soc

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The use of nonliteral language in clinical assessment, especially testing the patients' ability to interpret proverbs, has a long tradition in psychiatry. However, its diagnostic sensitivity and specificity in dementias is not yet clear. The aim of this review article is to examine the current evidence on nonliteral/figurative language (proverb, metaphor, metonymy, idiom, irony, sarcasm) comprehension in Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. A comprehensive literature search identified 25 studies (16 proverb, 3 metaphor, 0 metonymy, 5 idiom, 3 sarcasm) on nonliteral language comprehension in dementia. Studies predominantly indicate a deficit. Most studies investigated Alzheimer's dementia. Applied correctly, nonliteral language is a worthwhile diagnostic tool to evaluate language and abstract thinking in dementias. During assessment, familiarity testing (e.g., by asking "are you familiar with the proverb XY") is obligatory. Still, future research is needed in several areas: evidence on decline of nonliteral language over the course of the illness is limited. So far, almost no studies delineated proverb comprehension in high risk populations such as patients with mild cognitive impairment. Currently, there is a lack of studies addressing performance in direct comparison to relevant differential diagnosis like older-age depression, delirium, brain lesion, or other psychiatric conditions.

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Section: Implications For Clinical Practice and Further Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonliteral Language in Alzheimer Dementia: A Review

Rapp

Wild

2011

J Int Neuropsychol Soc

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“…Miscomprehension of figurative meanings by schizophrenic patients is a phenomenon already mentioned in historical descriptions (Hadlich, 1931 ; Goldstein, 1939 ; Kasanin, 1944 ; Elmore and Gorham, 1957 ). The deficit includes all subtypes of figurative language including proverbs (Brattemo, 1962 ; Rapp et al, 2014 ), metaphors (Langdon et al, 2002 ; Schneider et al, 2015 ; Bambini et al, 2016a ), irony (Sparks et al, 2010 ; Rapp et al, 2013 , 2014 ), and idioms (Titone et al, 2002 ; Schettino et al, 2010 ; Sela et al, 2015 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Comprehension of Familiar and Novel Metaphoric Meanings in Schizophrenia: A Pilot Study

et al. 2018

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Miscomprehension of nonliteral (“figurative”) language like metaphors, proverbs, idioms, and ironic expressions by patients with schizophrenia is a phenomenon mentioned already in historical psychiatric descriptions. However, it was only recently that studies did differentiate between novel and conventional metaphors, a factor that is known to influence the difficulty of comprehension in healthy subjects. Further, familiarity with stimuli is an important factor for comprehension, which was not recommended in utmost previous studies. In this study, 23 patients with DSM IV schizophrenia and 19 healthy control subjects performed a newly-developed German metaphor comprehension test with three types of stimuli: novel metaphors, conventional German metaphors, and meaningless statements. During the test procedure, participants indicated familiarity with the stimulus and then matched the meaning with one out of four given alternatives. Familiarity rankings did not significantly differ between patients and control subjects. However, on descriptive level, there was a tendency for healthy controls to be more familiar with conventional metaphors than schizophrenic patients. Further, comprehension of conventional and novel metaphors differed significantly between the groups, with higher performance in healthy controls. Considering only those metaphors that had been ranked as familiar, patients only revealed significant lower performance opposed to controls regarding novel metaphors, while they did not differ in conventional metaphors. Taken together, the results indicate that patients with schizophrenia might show an altered way of comprehension in novel metaphors, leading to more misunderstandings. However, their previously reported impairments in conventional metaphors might rather be due to a lack of familiarity with the stimuli—making conventional metaphors to novel metaphors in the individual case.

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“…Irony and sarcasm are therefore important subtypes of nonliteral language. Traditionally, it has been assumed that patients with schizophrenia show a cognitive bias towards literal interpretation of nonliteral expressions [ 46 , 47 ]. In the case of irony, that would result in assuming the exact opposite of the intention.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Irony and Proverb Comprehension in Schizophrenia: Do Female Patients “Dislike” Ironic Remarks?

Rapp

Langohr

Mutschler

et al. 2014

Schizophrenia Research and Treatment

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Difficulties in understanding irony and sarcasm are part of the social cognition deficits in patients with schizophrenia. A number of studies have reported higher error rates during comprehension in patients with schizophrenia. However, the relationships of these impairments to schizotypal personality traits and other language deficits, such as the comprehension of proverbs, are unclear. We investigated irony and proverb comprehension in an all-female sample of 20 schizophrenia patients and 27 matched controls. Subjects indicated if a statement was intended to be ironic, literal, or meaningless and furthermore rated the meanness and funniness of the stimuli and certainty of their decision. Patients made significantly more errors than controls did. Globally, there were no overall differences in the ratings. However, patients rated the subgroup of stimuli with answers given incorrectly as having significantly less meanness and in case of an error indicated a significantly higher certainty than controls. Across all of the study participants, performances in irony (r = −0.51) and proverb (r = 0.56) comprehension were significantly correlated with schizotypal personality traits, suggesting a continuum of nonliteral language understanding. Because irony is so frequent in everyday conversations, this makes irony an especially promising candidate for social cognition training in schizophrenia.

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Interpretations of proverbs in schizophrenic patients. Further studies

Cited by 13 publications

References 21 publications

Nonliteral Language in Alzheimer Dementia: A Review

Nonliteral Language in Alzheimer Dementia: A Review

The Comprehension of Familiar and Novel Metaphoric Meanings in Schizophrenia: A Pilot Study

Irony and Proverb Comprehension in Schizophrenia: Do Female Patients “Dislike” Ironic Remarks?

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