Features of sign-symbolic mediation of concepts in patients with schizophrenia in the presence or absence of a motive of social significance (pilot study)

This study shows how the motive of social significance introduced into the experimental situation affects the features of sign-symbolic mediation in patients with schizophrenia. It was revealed that in patients with schizophrenia there is a lack of influence of the motive of social significance on the features of sign mediation, whereas in mentally healthy people, in response to the presentation of the motive of social significance, the originality of images in the "Pictogram" technique increased. The lack of influence of the motive of social significance on the features of sign mediation in patients with schizophrenia can be explained both by a specific violation of the motivational component of social cognition and by a general (non-specific) motivational deficit. To establish a more appropriate explanation, it is necessary to conduct a study, the design of which will include other experimental motives. Data were also obtained on the presence of specific photographic images in patients with schizophrenia using the Pictogram technique.