Comparison of Recognition of Facial Affect in Patients Suffering from Schizophrenia and Normal Individuals
Subject Areas : Thoughts and Behavior in Clinical Psychology
Keywords: Social Cognition, Recognition of Facial Affect, schizophrenia,
Abstract :
Social cognitive information processing includes a wide set of processes and practices that allow individuals to understand, operate, and benefit from their interpersonal world. Emotion recognition is one of the most important components of social cognition. The research purpose is to draw a comparison of recognition of facial affect in patients suffering from schizophrenia and normal individuals. Therefore, in a casual-comparative study, a sample of 96 individuals in the age range of 18 to 55 years (51 individuals suffering from schizophrenia and 45 normal individuals) was selected through convenience sampling and tested by the recognition of facial affect. The variance analysis indicated that patients suffering from schizophrenia have weaker levels of recognition of facial affects. On the other hand, the performance of schizophrenic patients in recognition of negative affects was weaker than positive affect and the same model was observed among healthy individuals. It seems that, we should devote special attention to social cognition specially the recognition of affects in the treatment of schizophrenic patients.