Project 467153

Cognitive schemas are structures through which we process perceptions and are important treatment targets in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). In schizophrenia, cognitive schemas are thought to underly delusional beliefs. Through evaluative processes CBT address these cognitive schemas, however these processes are dependent on how permeable the schema is to new information. To date, research has focussed on schema intensity, durability, and density, however schema permeability has yet to be empirically investigated. The current study aims to investigate the permeability of cognitive schemas (and related processes like cognitive biases, dysfunctional attitudes, and neurocognitive flexibility) in individuals with schizophrenia compared to age and gender-matched psychiatrically healthy controls. The primary hypothesis is that individuals with schizophrenia will show less schema permeability compared to controls. Secondary hypotheses are that a) neurocognitive flexibility will predict schema permeability in both groups and b) that dysfunctional attitudes and cognitive biases will mediate the relationship between schema permeability and positive symptoms in individuals with schizophrenia. Participants will undergo a five step experiment where schema permeability and related factors will be measured before and after both a stressful social exclusion task and an updated task designed to provide new information and promote inclusion. Primary hypotheses will be analyzed using a linear mixed model and secondary hypotheses will use a) a linear regression models per group (i.e., neurocognitive flexibility and schema permeability across groups) and b) two mediation analyses per factor analyzed (e.g., cognitive biases and dysfunctional).