Social cognition and psychopathology in an evolutionary perspective - Current status and proposals for research

The phylogenetic and ontogenetic developments of social cognition have been a major research focus of evolutionary and developmental psychology. Theor y of mind or so-called Machiavellian intelligence, that is the capacity to infer mental states of other individuals and to manipulate them in order to maximise social success, probably emerged due to the need to cope with an increasingly complex social environment. Studies on social reasoning sugges t disturbances of mental state attribution in psychiatric disorders. Howeve r, apart from autism spectrum disorders, the systematic evaluation of socia l cognition is still in its infancy, and the present data are ambiguous due to methodological difficulties. Based on the concept of the modular organi sation of the mind, a stepwise investigation of social cognition in psychia tric disorders is proposed, including clinical description and available st andardised methods, The specific characteristics of psychiatric disorders i n respect of social cognition, therefore, may vary according to the hierarc hical organisation of the social module. Systematic studies on social reaso ning processes in psychiatric disorders may provide new insights also usefu l for the development of coping strategies in cognitive-behavioural therapy . Copyright(C)2001S.KargerAG,Basel.