Causal processing and schizotypy

Schlottmann and Shanks (1992), using a task based on Michotte`s(1963) launc h events, demonstrated a dissociation in the use of contingency and contigu ity cues in making causal decisions; specifically that judgements of necess ity showed a greater influence of contingency cues, while perceived causali ty ratings were influenced solely by contiguity cues. The present study used the same paradigm to test a prediction derived from Hemsley (1994). that schizophrenic subjects, and, following a dimensional a pproach (Claridge, 1987), highly schizotypal controls, will rely more on mo ment-by-moment perceptions (contiguity) than learnt regularity (contingency ) in causal processing and that this would be manifested as a reduced influ ence of contingency compared to contiguity (compared to subjects low in sch izotypy) on judged necessity ratings, Thirty nonpsychiatric S's grouped as high or low schizotypy according to a median split of scores on the O-LIFE questionnaire (Mason, Claridge and Jac kson, 1995) completed the task. Performance was not in line with prediction , but schizotypy did appear to influence performance on perceived causality ratings; a speculative explanation for this and suggestions for future res earch are discussed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.