SOCIAL PROCESSING CORRELATES OF NONVERBAL SOCIAL-PERCEPTION IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

THIS study examines the relationship of nonverbal social perception to other areas of social functioning in schizophrenia, One model of inte rpersonal problem-solving skills presents a sequence of receiving, pro cessing, and sending skills, Social perception skills best fit the fir st stage in this model: receiving skills, As expected, schizophrenic s ubjects (N = 29) were less skillful than normal subjects (N = 15) on m easures of social problem solving, understanding of social sequences, and social judgment, In addition, performance on these tasks was signi ficantly related to nonverbal social perception, but only for the schi zophrenic group. Thus, deficits in nonverbal social perception are rel ated to other measures of social functioning in schizophrenia. Implica tions of these findings for understanding and treating social deficits in schizophrenia are discussed.