Associations between schizotypal personality traits and the facilitation and inhibition of the speed of contextually cued responses

This study measured schizotypal personality traits in a sample of 33 healthy participants using the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences. These traits were correlated with measures of inhibition and facilitation of response times (RTs) within a cued letter-comparison task. It was expected that scores on a measure of positive schizotypy, reflecting unrealistically distorted perceptions and beliefs, would be negatively associated with inhibition of RTs to targets that were unexpected in the context of the preceding letter cue. No specific predictions were made for the facilitation of RTs to targets expected in the context of the cues. The predicted negative association for positive schizotypy and inhibition of RTs was confirmed. There was no significant association between positive schizotypy and facilitation of RTs; however, there was an unpredicted finding that facilitation of RTs was increased in individuals with higher levels of disorganized schizotypy. The findings for positive schizotypy were consistent with Hemsley's model, in that high positive schizotypy results from a weakening of contextually elicited inhibitory processes, and is associated with altered functioning of a monitoring system. The normal functioning of the monitoring system is to generate mismatch signals that interrupt information processing when a contextually unexpected stimulus occur