In two separate studies (one replicating the other) of 102 people with schizophrenia diagnoses researchers from McGill, UCLA, CSU, UNC, Columbia and the VA found that patients’ ratings of facial affect were consistent with those of controls, and were commensurately affected by situational context-related cues. Though previous studies have found abnormal social affect processing in people diagnosed as schizophrenic, these studies suggest there is a benefit from situational context in the interpretation of ambiguous facial affect, and that this benefit is similar for people both with and without the diagnosis. The study, which suggests implications for social cognitive training programs, appears in Schizophrenia Bulletin.
