Metacognitive processes in psychometrically defined schizotypy

Chi C. Chan, Christopher C. Spencer, Chloe West, Carina Viegas, Jeffrey S. Bedwell

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

Metacognitive abnormalities have been implicated in the experience of psychotic symptoms; however, the process through which this occurs remains unclear. The aim of this study was to clarify the association of self-reported schizotypy with metacognitive beliefs and neural activity related to higher-order cognition. Event-related potentials (ERPs) including the error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe) were recorded during a Flanker task in 20 controls and 22 individuals with high self-reported schizotypy on the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief Revised (SPQ-BR). Participants continuously evaluated their task performance and completed the Metacognitions Questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30). The high schizotypy group demonstrated higher scores on all subscales of the MCQ-30. In contrast, task performance, accuracy of self-performance evaluation, and amplitudes of the ERN and Pe did not differ between groups. The MCQ-30 factors that measure cognitive confidence and positive beliefs about worry significantly predicted SPQ-BR total score, whereas ERPs did not. High self-reported schizotypy appears to be more associated with dysfunctional metacognitive beliefs than physiological abnormalities in brain areas related to metacognition.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)279-286
Number of pages8
JournalPsychiatry Research
Volume230
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Dec 2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Error monitoring
  • Error-related negativity
  • Metacognitive beliefs
  • Psychosis
  • Schizotypy

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