The Sensory and Perceptual Scaffolding of Absorption, Inner Speech, and Self in Psychosis.
Cherise Rosen, Michele Tufano, Clara Humpston, Kayla A Chase, Nev Jones, Amy C Abramowitz, Ann Franco Chakkalakal, Rajiv Sharma
Frontiers in Psychiatry May 10, 2021 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.649808 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 117 |
| Population | 81 participants with psychosis and 36 controls |
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Absorption Psychosis Network analysis |
| Key findings | Dialogic and emotional/motivational inner speech were strongly associated with absorption subscales in both psychosis and control groups, except the aesthetic subscale in controls. In psychosis, condensed inner speech was uniquely associated with increased imaginative involvement, and altered consciousness, dialogic, and emotional/motivational inner speech predicted positive symptoms. Network analysis identified imaginative involvement as the most central and predictive node linking inner speech and psychopathology. |
Abstract
This study examines the interconnectedness between absorption, inner speech, self, and psychopathology. Absorption involves an intense focus and immersion in mental imagery, sensory/perceptual stimuli, or vivid imagination that involves decreased self-awareness and alterations in consciousness. In psychosis, the dissolution and permeability in the demarcation between self and one's sensory experiences and perceptions, and also between self-other and/or inter-object boundaries alter one's sense of self. Thus, as the individual integrates these changes new "meaning making" or understanding evolves as part of an ongoing inner dialogue and dialogue with others. This study consisted of 117 participants: 81 participants with psychosis and 36 controls. We first conducted a bivariate correlation to elucidate the relationship between absorption and inner speech. We next conducted hierarchical multiple regressions to examine the effect of absorption and inner speech to predict psychopathology. Lastly, we conducted a network analysis and applied extended Bayesian Information Criterion to select the best model. We showed that in both the control and psychosis group dialogic and emotional/motivational types of inner speech were strongly associated with absorption subscales, apart from the aesthetic subscale in the control group which was not significant, while in psychosis, condensed inner speech was uniquely associated with increased imaginative involvement. In psychosis, we also demonstrated that altered consciousness, dialogic, and emotional/motivational inner speech all predicted positive symptoms. In terms of network associations, imaginative involvement was the most central, influential, and most highly predictive node in the model from which all other nodes related to inner speech and psychopathology are connected. This study shows a strong interrelatedness between absorption, inner speech and psychosis thus identifying potentially fertile ground for future research and directions, particularly in the exploration into the underlying construct of imaginative involvement in psychotic symptoms.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The phenomenology of near-death experiences Subjects who reported near-death experiences | 1980 | Retrospective study | n = 78 |
| Visual Phenomenology of the LSD Flashback Persons with a history of LSD use | 1983 | Observational cohort | n = 123 |
| The neurophenomenology of neutral hypnosis. Individuals of high, medium, and low hypnotizability | 2013 | Observational cohort | n = 37 |
| The Phenomenology of Acute Organic Psychosis Patients with acute organic psychosis and acute schizophrenics | 1987 | Observational cohort | n = 148 |
| EEG oscillatory states as neuro-phenomenology of consciousness as revealed from patients in vegetative and minimally conscious states. Brain-damaged patients with disorders of consciousness and healthy-conscious subjects | 2012 | Observational cohort |
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Sensed Presence, Attenuated Psychosis, and Transliminality: At the Threshold of Consciousness. Psychopathology 2023
- Theoretical Perspectives on the Minimal and Narrative Self in the Schizophrenia Spectrum: An Integrative Review. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science 2026
- A voice without a mouth no more: The neurobiology of language and consciousness. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews September 1, 2022
Cites 9
- Is Schizophrenia a Disorder of Consciousness? Experimental and Phenomenological Support for Anomalous Unconscious Processing. Frontiers in Psychology 2017
- Understanding the Blind Spots of Psychosis: A Wittgensteinian and First-Person Approach Psychopathology 2018
- Immersion in altered experience: An investigation of the relationship between absorption and psychopathology. Consciousness and Cognition March 2017
- Diversity Within the Psychotic Continuum. Schizophrenia Bulletin November 21, 2016
- The intrasubjectivity of self, voices and delusions: A phenomenological analysis. Psychosis 2016
and 4 more in the library