Abstract
Background:
Social cognition is increasingly seen as a viable treatment target due to its strong influence on functional outcomes. However, in order to enhance the validity of basic research on social cognition and to improve social cognitive interventions, it is necessary that psychometrically sound measures be used. The current work presents new data from the NIMH-funded Social Cognition Psychometric Evaluation (SCOPE) study, which aims to identify and improve the best existing measures of social cognition so they can be suitably applied in large-scale treatment studies. Initial phases of this project evaluated the psychometric properties of 8 of the most widely used measures and found that the Bell Lysaker Emotion Recognition Task (BLERT) and Hinting Task could be recommended for use in clinical trials but that the Penn Emotion Recognition Task (ER-40), Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task (Eyes), and The Awareness of Social Inferences Test (TASIT) would benefit from modification. Here, we evaluated the reliability and validity of the modified tasks as well as 2 novel tasks.
Methods:
Two hundred eighteen individuals with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 154 healthy controls completed a 4-week test-retest study designed to evaluate the psychometric properties of 7 measures of social cognition. Tasks include the BLERT, ER-40, Eyes task, TASIT, Hinting Task, the Mini Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity (MiniPONS), and the Social Attribution Task – Multiple Choice (SAT-MC).
Results:
Preliminary data demonstrate that all tasks except the SAT-MC showed adequate test-retest reliability. BLERT, Hinting, SAT and TASIT all showed small, but significant, practice effects, and the SAT-MC showed the greatest degree of practice effects with 10% of the patient sample scoring at or below chance levels. All tasks were significantly correlated with social competence and functional capacity, with BLERT, ER40, Hinting, and TASIT showing the most robust relationships (all
r
> .40). Likewise, for all tasks, healthy controls performed significantly better than individuals with schizophrenia. The majority of tasks were completed in under 10 minutes, with the exception of TASIT which took 18 minutes on average. Participants reported favorable impressions of all tasks except the MiniPONS.
Conclusion:
These preliminary psychometric data suggest that the BLERT and Hinting tasks continue to be strong candidates for use in clinical trials. The ER40 also appears to be particularly promising. While the 2 social perception measures (SAT-MC and MiniPONS) have positive features, both show areas of weakness that suggest they may be of more limited use in clinical trials. These findings also highlight the significant need for continued development of psychometrically sound social perception measures.