Modification of affect perception deficits in schizophrenia

This study investigated two strategies for improving facial affect percepti on in schizophrenia: monetary reinforcement and promoting facial feedback v ia mimicry of the expressions of target faces. A total of 40 inpatients wit h schizophrenia were administered the face emotion identification test duri ng four phases: baseline, intervention, immediate post-test, and 1 week fol low-up. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of four interventions: repea ted practice, monetary reinforcement, facial feedback, and a combination of reinforcement and facial feedback. Generalization of the intervention to a test of facial affect discrimination was also examined. The results showed that all groups of subjects. with the exception of those in the repeated p ractice group, improved in their ability to identify facial affect, with th ese effects showing some stability over time. There was limited evidence of these effects generalizing to the test of facial affect discrimination. (C ) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.