Cover not available

In:Biolinguistic Investigations on the Language Faculty
Edited by Anna Maria Di Sciullo
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 235] 2016
► pp. 213–234

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

Communication in schizophrenia, between pragmatics, cognition, and social cognition

 | Department of Clinical Neurosciences, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
 | IRCCS Fondazione Ospedale San Camillo, Venice, Italy
 | Department of Clinical Neurosciences, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
 | Department of Clinical Neurosciences, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
ORCiD logo with link | Center for Neurocognition and Theoretical Syntax (NeTS), Scuola Universitaria Superiore IUSS Pavia, Pavia, Italy
 | Department of Clinical Neurosciences, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
Published online: 24 November 2016
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.235.10bos
We previously reported communication disruption in schizophrenia at the pragmatic level, i.e., in the ability to match language and context. Pragmatic abilities interact with a number of cognitive functions, from Theory of Mind to executive control, which in turn are known to be compromised in schizophrenia. This study aims to explore the relationship between communication-related skills, assessed through a newly developed pragmatic protocol, and neuropsychological measures, including Theory of Mind, in a sample of 39 patients with schizophrenia. Among all neuropsychological domains assessed, verbal short term memory and executive functions seem to especially correlate with the comprehension of the pragmatic aspects of language. Other cognitive and socio-cognitive domains seem to correlate in a task-specific fashion, i.e., depending on the pragmatic task under investigation. Our findings suggest that, while there is a cognitive platform for pragmatic abilities, communicative behavior is at least partially independent of the global cognitive profile. Also, the effect of Theory of Mind is likely to be mediated by more basic cognitive functions.
References (59)
References
Amanzio, M., Geminiani, G., Leotta, D. & Cappa, S. 2008. Metaphor comprehension in Alzheimer’s disease: Novelty matters. Brain and Language 107: 1-10. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Anselmetti, S., Poletti, S., Ermoli, E., Bechi, M., Cappa, S., Venneri, A., Smeraldi, E. & Cavallaro, R. 2008. The brief assessment of cognition in schizophrenia. Normative data for the Italian population. Neurological Sciences: Official Journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology 29(2): 85-92. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Arcara G. & Bambini, V. 2016. A test for the Assessment of Pragmatic Abilities and Cognitive Substrates (APACS): Normative data and psychometric properties. Frontiers in Psychology 7: 70. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baayen, R.H. 2008. Analyzing Linguistic Data: A Practical Introduction to Statistics Using R. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bagner, D.M., Melinder, M.R. & Barch, D.M. 2003. Language comprehension and working memory language comprehension and working memory deficits in patients with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research 60(2-3): 299-309. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bambini, V., Gentili, C., Ricciardi, E., Bertinetto, P.M. & Pietrini, P. 2011. Decomposing metaphor processing at the neurocognitive and neural level through Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Brain Research Bulletin 86: 203-216. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bambini, V. & Bara, B.G. 2012. Neuropragmatics. In Handbook of Pragmatics, J.-O. Östman & J. Verschueren (eds), 1-22. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bambini, V., Ghio, M., Moro, A., Schumacher, P.B. 2013. Differentiating among pragmatic uses of words through timed sensicality judgments. Frontiers in Psychology 4: 938. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barbato, M., Liu, L., Penn, D.L., Keefe, R.S., Perkins, D.O., Woods, S.W. & Addington J. 2013. Social cognition as a mediator between neurocognition and functional outcome in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis. Schizophrenia Research 150(2-3): 542-546. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bechi, M., Bosia, M., Spangaro, M., Buonocore, M., Cocchi, F., Pigoni, A., Piantanida, M., Guglielmino, C., Bianchi, L., Smeraldi, E. & Cavallaro, R. 2015. Combined social cognitive and neurocognitive rehabilitation strategies in schizophrenia: Neuropsychological and psychopathological influences on Theory of Mind improvement. Psychological Medicine 11:1-11.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bosia, M., Anselmetti, S., Pirovano, A., Ermoli, E., Marino, E., Bramanti, P., Smeraldi, E. & Cavallaro, R. 2010. HTTLPR functional polymorphism in schizophrenia: Executive functions vs sustained attention dissociation. Progress in Neuro-psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry 34: 81-5. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bosia, M., Anselmetti, S., Bechi, M., Lorenzi, C., Pirovano, A., Cocchi, F., Buonocore, M., Bramanti, P., Smeraldi, E. & Cavallaro, R. 2011. Effect of 5-HT1A-receptor functional polymorphism on Theory of Mind performances in schizophrenia. Psychiatry Reseach 188(2): 187-190. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bosia, M., Riccaboni, R., Poletti, S. 2012. Neurofunctional correlates of Theory of Mind deficits in schizophrenia. Current Topics In Medicinal Chemistry 12: 2284-2302. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bosia, M., Zanoletti, A., Spangaro, M., Buonocore, M., Bechi, M., Cocchi, F., Pirovano, A., Lorenzi, C., Bramanti, P., Smeraldi, E. & Cavallaro, R. 2014. Factors affecting cognitive remediation response in schizophrenia: The role of COMT gene and antipsychotic treatment. Psychiatry Research 217(1-2): 9-14. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bosia, M., Arcara, G., Moro, A., Cavallaro, R. & Bambini, V. 2015. Pragmatic abilities across symptoms dimensions in schizophrenia. Studi Italiani di Linguistica Teorica e Applicata XLIV(3): 473-485.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Breiman, L., Friedman, J.H., Olshen, R.A. & Stone, C.I.1984. Classification and Regression Trees. Belmont CA: Wadsworth.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brothers, L. 1990. The social brain: A project for integrating primate behavior and neurophysiology in a new domain. Concepts in Neuroscience 1: 27-51.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brownell, H.H., Michel, D., Powelson, J. & Gardner, H. 1983. Surprise but not coherence: Sensitivity to verbal humor in right-hemisphere patients. Brain and Language 18: 20-27. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brüne, M. 2003a. Social cognition and behavior in schizophrenia. In The Social Brain. Evolution and Pathology, M. Brüne, H. Ribbert & W. Schiefenhovel (eds), 277-313. Chichester: Wiley and Sons. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2003b. Theory of Mind and role of IQ in chronic disorganized schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research 60: 57-64. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brüne, M. & Bodenstein L. 2005. Proverb comprehension reconsidered: 'Theory of Mind' and the pragmatic use of language in schizophrenia. Schizophr Res. 75(2-3): 233-9. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Champagne-Lavau, M. & Stip, E. 2010. Pragmatic and executive dysfunction in schizophrenia. Journal of Neurolinguistics 23(3): 285-296. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Colle, L., Angeleri, R., Vallana, M., Sacco, K., Bara, B.G. & Bosco, F.M. 2013. Understanding the communicative impairments in schizophrenia: A preliminary study. Journal of Communication Disorders 46: 294-308. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Condray, R., Steinhauer, S.R., Van Kammen, D.P. & Kasparek, A. 1996. Working memory capacity predicts language comprehension in schizophrenic patients. Schizophrenia Research 20(1-2): 1-13. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Covington, M.A., He, C., Brown, C., Naçi, L., McClain, J.T., Fjordbak, B.S., Semple, J. & Brown, J. 2005. Schizophrenia and the structure of language: The linguist’s view. Schizophrenia Research 77(1): 85-98. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
DeLisi, L.E. 2001. Speech disorder in schizophrenia: Review of the literature and exploration of its relation to the uniquely human capacity for language. Schizophrenia Bulletin 27(3): 481-96. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dickinson, D., Ramsey, M.E. & Gold, J.M. 2007. Overlooking the obvious: A meta-analytic comparison of digit symbol coding tasks and other neurocognitive measures in schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry 64(5): 532-42. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ferstl, E.C., Walther, K., Guthke, T. & Von Cramon, D.Y. 2005. Assessment of story comprehension deficits after brain damage. Journal Of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology 27: 367-384. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Green, M.F., Kern, R.S., Braff, D.L. & Mintz, J. 2000. Neurocognitive deficits and functional outcome in schizophrenia: Are we measuring the ‘right stuff’? Schizophrenia Bulletin 26: 119-136. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Green, M.F., Kern, R.S. & Heaton, R.K. 2004. Longitudinal studies of cognition and functional outcome in schizophrenia: implications for MATRICS. Schizophrenia Research 72: 41-51. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Guazzotti, P. & Oddera, M.F. 2006. Il grande dizionario dei proverbi Italiani. Bologna: Zanichelli.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hagoort, P., Levinson, S.C. 2014. Neuropragmatics. In The Cognitive Neurosciences, M.S. Gazzaniga (ed.). Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Harrow, M., Adler, D. & Hanf, E. 1974. Abstract and concrete thinking in schizophrenia during the pre-chronic phases. Archives General Psychiatry 31(1):27-33. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Heyman, T. & Schaeken, W. 2015. Some differences in some: Examining variability in the interpretation of scalars using latent class analysis. Psychologica Belgica 55(1): 1-18. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Janssens, L., Fabry, I. & Schaeken, W. 2014. Some effects of age, task, task content and working memory on scalar implicature processing. Psychologica Belgica 54(4): 374-388. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kahn, R.S. & Keefe, R.S. 2013. Schizophrenia is a cognitive illness: Time for a change in focus. JAMA Psychiatry 70(10): 1107-1112. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kay, S.R., Fiszbein, A. & Opler, L.A. 1987. The positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) for schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin 13(2): 261-276. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Keefe, R.S., Goldberg, T.E., Harvey, P.D., Gold, J.M., Poe, M.P. & Coughenour, L. 2004. The brief assessment of cognition in schizophrenia: Reliability, sensitivity, and comparison with a standard neurocognitive battery. Schizophrenia Research 68(2-3): 283-297. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kiang, M., Light, G.A., Prugh, J., Coulson, S., Braff, D.L. & Kutas, M. 2007. Neurocognitive, neurophysiological, and functional correlates of proverb interpretation abnormalities in schizophrenia. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society 13: 653-63. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kuperberg, G.R. 2010. Language in schizophrenia Part 1: An Introduction. Language and Linguistics Compass 4(8): 576-589. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kuperberg, G. & Caplan, D. 2003. Language dysfunction in schizophrenia. In Neuropsychiatry, 2nd edn, R.B. Schiffer, S.M. Rao & B.S. Fogel (eds), 444-466. Philadelphia PA: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Langdon, R., Davies, M. & Coltheart, M. 2002. Understanding minds and understanding communicated meanings in schizophrenia. Mind and Language 17: 68-104. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lucisano, P. & Piemontese, M.E. 1988. GULPEASE: Una formula per la predizione della difficoltà dei testi in lingua Italiana. Scuola e Città 110-124.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marini, A., Andreetta, S., Del Tin, S. & Carlomagno, S. 2011. A multi-level approach to the analysis of narrative language in aphasia. Aphasiology 25: 1372-1392. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moro, A. 2013. The Equilibrium of Human Syntax: Symmetries in the Brain. New York NY: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moro, A., Bambini, B., Bosia, M., Anselmetti, S., Riccaboni R., Cappa S., Smeraldi E. & Cavallaro, R. 2015. Detecting syntactic and semantic anomalies in schizophrenia. Neuropsychologia 79: 147-157. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mossaheb, N., Aschauer, H.N., Stoettner, S., Schmoeger, M., Pils, N., Raab, M. & Willinger, U. 2014. Comprehension of metaphors in patients with schizophrenia-spectrum Ddsorders. Comprehensive Psychiatry 55: 928-937. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Noonan, D. 2014. Language: Lost in translation. Nature 508(7494): S4-5. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Papagno, C., Cappa, S.F., Forelli, A., Laiacona, M., Vallar, G., Garavaglia, G. & Capitani, E. 1995. La comprensione non letterale del linguaggio: Taratura di un test di comprensione di metafore e di espressioni idiomatiche. Archivio di Psicologia Neurologia e Psichiatria 56(4): 402-420.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Perlini, C., Marini, A., Garzitto, M., Isola, M., Cerruti, S., Marinelli, V., Rambaldelli, G., Ferro, A., Tomelleri, L., Dusi, N., Bellani, M., Tansella, M., Fabbro, F. & Brambilla, P. 2012. Linguistic production and syntactic comprehension in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 126: 363-376. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pesciarelli, F., Gamberoni, T., Ferlazzo, F., Russo, L.L., Pedrazzi, F., Melati, E. & Cacciari, C. 2014. Is the comprehension of idiomatic sentences indeed impaired in paranoid schizophrenia ? A window into semantic processing deficits. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 8: 1-14. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
R Core Team. 2014. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Vienna: R Core Team.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rapp, A.M., Langohr, K., Mutschler, D.E., Klingberg, S., Wild, B. & Erb, M. 2013. Isn’t it ironic? Neural correlates of irony comprehension in schizophrenia. PloS One 8: e74224. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schettino, A., Lauro, L.R., Crippa, F., Anselmetti, S., Cavallaro, R. & Papagno, C. 2010. The comprehension of idiomatic expressions in schizophrenic patients. Neuropsychologia 48: 1032-1040. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sperber, D. & Wilson, D. 2002. Pragmatics, modularity and mind-reading. Mind and Language 17: 3-23. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2005. Pragmatics. In Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Philosophy, F. Jackson & M. Smith (eds), 468-501. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sponheim, S.R., Surerus-Johnson, C., Leskela, J. & Dieperink, M.E. 2003. Proverb interpretation in schizophrenia: The significance of symptomatology and cognitive processes. Schizophr Res. 65(2-3): 117-23. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tabossi, P., Arduino, L. & Fanari, R. 2011. Descriptive norms for 245 Italian idiomatic expressions. Behavior Research Methods 43: 110-123. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thoma, P., Hennecke, M., Mandok, T., Wähner, A., Brüne, M., Juckel, G. & Daum, I. 2009. Proverb comprehension impairments in schizophrenia are related to executive dysfunction. Psychiatry Res. 170(2-3): 132-139. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (7)

Cited by seven other publications

Frau, Federico, Marta Bosia, Luca Bischetti, Gloria Cappelli, Antonio Carotenuto, Luca Diamanti, Sonia Montemurro, Giulia Agostoni, Margherita Bechi, Daniela D’Imperio, Sara Lago, Sabrina Noccetti, Nicoletta Simi, Mauro Ceroni, Rosa Iodice, Matteo Signorini, Giorgio Arcara & Valentina Bambini
2025. Ten years of using the APACS test: a multistudy cross-diagnostic analysis of pragmatic profiles and their relationship with Theory of Mind. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 380:1932 DOI logo
Nys, Bojan Luc, Wai Wong & Walter Schaeken
2024. Some scales require cognitive effort: A systematic review on the role of working memory in scalar implicature derivation. Cognition 242 ► pp. 105623 ff. DOI logo
Bambini, Valentina, Lotte Van Looy, Kevin Demiddele & Walter Schaeken
2021. What is the contribution of executive functions to communicative-pragmatic skills? Insights from aging and different types of pragmatic inference. Cognitive Processing 22:3 ► pp. 435 ff. DOI logo
Schaeken, Walter, Linde Van de Weyer, Marc De Hert & Martien Wampers
2021. The Role of Working Memory in the Processing of Scalar Implicatures of Patients With Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders. Frontiers in Psychology 12 DOI logo
Arcara, Giorgio, Elisabetta Tonini, Giulia Muriago, Elisabetta Mondin, Edda Sgarabottolo, Gianettore Bertagnoni, Carlo Semenza & Valentina Bambini
2020. Pragmatics and figurative language in individuals with traumatic brain injury: fine-grained assessment and relevance-theoretic considerations. Aphasiology 34:8 ► pp. 1070 ff. DOI logo
LECCE, Serena, Luca RONCHI, Paola DEL SETTE, Luca BISCHETTI & Valentina BAMBINI
2019. Interpreting physical and mental metaphors: Is Theory of Mind associated with pragmatics in middle childhood?. Journal of Child Language 46:2 ► pp. 393 ff. DOI logo
Montemurro, Sonia, Sara Mondini, Matteo Signorini, Anna Marchetto, Valentina Bambini & Giorgio Arcara
2019. Pragmatic Language Disorder in Parkinson’s Disease and the Potential Effect of Cognitive Reserve. Frontiers in Psychology 10 DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 22 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue