Schizotypy, Social Feedback Processing
Conditions
Keywords
schizotypy, social cognition, social feedback, social acceptance, social rejection, electroencephalography, EEG, event-related potentials, frontal-midline theta, reward processing, undergraduates
Brief summary
This study will examine how young adults with different levels of schizotypal traits process social acceptance and rejection. Participants between 18 and 35 years old will complete a single laboratory session that includes questionnaires and electroencephalography (EEG), a noninvasive method that measures electrical brain activity through sensors placed on the scalp. During EEG recording, participants will complete a computer-based Social Judgment Paradigm (SJP) in which they form expectations about whether another person will like or dislike them and then receive experimentally controlled acceptance or rejection feedback. The study will examine how brain responses differ when social feedback is expected versus unexpected and whether these responses vary with schizotypal traits. The goal is to better understand the brain mechanisms involved in evaluating social feedback. This study does not provide treatment and does not test a drug or medical device.
Detailed description
Schizotypal traits occur along a continuum in the general population and are associated with differences in social functioning and social information processing. This study will investigate neural responses to social feedback in young adults across the schizotypy spectrum using electroencephalography (EEG). Participants between 18 and 35 years old will complete a single experimental session. During EEG recording, they will perform a Social Judgment Paradigm (SJP) in which they first form an expectation about whether another person will respond positively or negatively toward them and subsequently receive acceptance or rejection feedback. This produces four within-participant feedback conditions: expected acceptance, expected rejection, unexpected acceptance, and unexpected rejection. The study will examine brain activity associated with evaluating social feedback, including frontal-midline (FM) theta activity and event-related potentials (ERPs). The primary analyses will test whether neural responses to acceptance and rejection, particularly when feedback violates expectations, vary as a function of continuous schizotypal traits. Participants will also complete self-report measures assessing schizotypal traits, social functioning, and related psychological characteristics. The study is designed to clarify neural mechanisms involved in social feedback evaluation and to determine how individual differences in schizotypal traits are associated with these processes.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALSocial Judgment Paradigm
A computerized Social Judgment Paradigm in which participants receive experimentally controlled social feedback (acceptance/rejection) from purported peers or evaluators while continuous EEG is recorded to assess oscillatory activity and event-related potentials associated with social feedback processing. Feedback valence and expectancy are manipulated at the trial level, with trial order randomized within the task.
Sponsors
Central Connecticut State University
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
All participants complete the same single-session Social Judgment Paradigm using a within-subject repeated-measures design. Each participant experiences all experimental conditions defined by feedback expectancy (expected versus unexpected) and feedback valence (acceptance versus rejection), resulting in four conditions: expected acceptance, expected rejection, unexpected acceptance, and unexpected rejection. The order of acceptance and rejection feedback trials is randomized within the task. Participants are not randomized to separate intervention groups, study arms, or intervention sequences.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 35 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Ages 18-35 years. * Able to provide informed consent. * Able to complete an EEG recording session.
Exclusion criteria
* Younger than 18 years or older than 35 years. * Unable to provide informed consent. * Unable to complete the EEG recording session. * No additional
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Frontal Midline Theta Power (4-7 Hz) | Day 1 | Mean frontal-midline theta-band power (4-7 Hz) derived from EEG data time-locked to feedback onset during the Social Judgment Paradigm, quantified during the prespecified 200-600 ms post-feedback window at frontocentral electrodes. Theta power will be measured directly across the four feedback conditions defined by expectancy (expected/unexpected) and feedback valence (acceptance/rejection). |
| Feedback-Related Negativity (FRN) Amplitude | Day 1 | Mean event-related potential (ERP) amplitude within the 250-350 ms time window following feedback onset during the Social Judgment Paradigm, quantified at frontocentral electrodes. FRN amplitude will be measured directly across the four feedback conditions defined by expectancy and feedback valence. |
| Late Positive Potential (LPP) Amplitude | Day 1 | Mean event-related potential (ERP) amplitude within the 350-600 ms time window following feedback onset during the Social Judgment Paradigm, quantified at midline electrodes. LPP amplitude will be measured directly across the four feedback conditions defined by expectancy and feedback valence. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Behavioral Expectancy Responses | Day 1 | Participant predictions of social acceptance or rejection during each trial of the Social Judgment Paradigm, including expectancy response and reaction time. |
| Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) Total Score | Day 1 | The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) is a 74-item self-report measure assessing schizotypal personality traits across cognitive-perceptual, interpersonal, and disorganized dimensions. Items are answered in a yes/no format and scored dichotomously. Item scores are summed to produce a total score ranging from 0 to 74. Higher scores indicate greater levels of schizotypal personality traits. |
| Multidimensional Schizotypy Scale (MSS) Scores | Day 1 | The Multidimensional Schizotypy Scale (MSS) is a 77-item self-report measure assessing positive, negative, and disorganized dimensions of schizotypy. Items are answered using a true/false response format. The Positive Schizotypy subscale contains 26 items and ranges from 0 to 26; the Negative Schizotypy subscale contains 26 items and ranges from 0 to 26; and the Disorganized Schizotypy subscale contains 25 items and ranges from 0 to 25. Higher scores on each subscale indicate greater levels of the corresponding dimension of schizotypy. |
| Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale-Revised (BFNES-R) Total Score | Day 1 | The Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale-Revised (BFNES-R) is a 12-item self-report measure assessing fear of negative evaluation by others. Each item is rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (not at all characteristic of me) to 4 (extremely characteristic of me). Item ratings are summed to produce a total score ranging from 0 to 48. Higher scores indicate greater fear of negative evaluation and greater concern about others' social evaluation. |
| Perceived Stress Reactivity Scale (PSRS) Total Score | Day 1 | The Perceived Stress Reactivity Scale (PSRS) is a 23-item self-report measure assessing an individual's typical response intensity to potentially stressful situations in everyday life. The scale includes five domains: prolonged reactivity, reactivity to failure, reactivity to social conflict, reactivity to work overload, and reactivity to social evaluation. Items are scored from 0 to 2, with negatively keyed items reverse-scored, and summed to produce a total score ranging from 0 to 46. Higher scores indicate greater perceived stress reactivity |
| Social Functioning Questionnaire (SFQ) Total Score | Day 1 | The Social Functioning Questionnaire (SFQ) is an 8-item self-report measure assessing perceived social functioning across domains including work and home activities, finances, close relationships, family relationships, social isolation, sexual functioning, and leisure activities. Each item is scored from 0 to 3, and item scores are summed to produce a total score ranging from 0 to 24. Higher scores indicate poorer social functioning. |
Countries
United States
Contacts
CONTACTSilvia Corbera LOpez Principal Investigator, PhD.
CONTACTBrenda Lopez Grants and Funded Research Administrator
Outcome results
None listed