VARIOUS CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE
[This applies to various forms of schizophrenia that have a "formal thought disorder" which can display language symptoms similar to autism. Hallucinatory, delusional or paranoid schizophrenia doesn't necessarily include formal thought disorder, though it is present in some cases.]
PRONOUN REVERSAL:
Pronoun reversal is a common characteristic in autism where one may accidentally reverse pronouns in mid-sentence. For example, one may mean to say "I went to the store" but accidentally says "He went to the store", or one may accidentally say "You went to the store" when they really meant "They went to the store".
Schizohprenia's analog:
There seems to be an over-representation of the word "I" in schizophrenic writing, and far less usage of third-person pronouns such as "He", "She", "They", etc.
http://u.cs.biu.ac.il/~koppel/papers/sc ... -final.pdf
USE OF WORDS INAPPROPRIATE TO THE CONTEXT
In autism, there's a tendency to use language in a literal way and a preference for pedantic language (Which basically means using large words) as opposed to idiomatic language, such as "Wassup!". I notice that I personally have a tendency to recall rare words or "rare meanings" and use them as if they were nothing, even though they are actually appropriate to the context. For example, I was imagining being a king, and one of my "dislikes" were "heartless soldiers". I didn't mean cruel, savageous soldiers, I rather meant those who lacked heart/courage. Looking at dictionary.com, it seems that the "lacking heart/courage" meaning was archaic [although that might actually be appropriate from the "I'm a medieval king" viewpoint, but it was on a social site where people would naturally know the "common meaning" and they might get confused.]
Schizophrenia's analog:
There's a tendency to use overly ornate language and literal language to describe something.
http://www.ai.uga.edu/caspr/litreviewsr-published.pdf
Examples:
(Interpreting "Discretion is the better part of valorQ")
Pliant rectitude is a trait more appropriate for
successful living than hot-headedness, which is either
stubborn or crusady.
Neologisms (Literal language):
Using the word 'handshoe' for "glove"
I recently called a broom a "sweeper", and the person looked at me pretty funny.
Perservation
Getting stuck on a phrase and repeating it is fairly common in autism and schizophrenia.
Echolalia
Repeating what someone says is common in schizophrenia and autism.
Use of Metaphor meaningful to only the speaker
This is a common characteristic of aspergers.
Schizophrenia's analog:
Does schizophrenia have anything similar?
I created the following metaphors at one time:
"Should there be a law against those 8-horse drawn chariots that make too much noise? You know the kind I'm talking about, the kind that put silver rims on their hubs and place green-fired lanterns under their chariots."
I was alluding to people driving 8-cylinder cars that blare their speakers and put silver rims and green neon lights under the car. People laughed but I'm not sure if they got the analogy.
"Should blonde females be allowed to toil under the white, tubular suns? With the way the slave market is going, I think there'd be more work for those who need it most if they were only allowed to work under the hot, yellow sun."
I was alluding to blonde office workers and the job market. I reasoned if we kicked blonde females from office jobs and allowed them to only do manual labor, there'd be more jobs available for guys and those "who need it most"; blondes obviously don't need it most because they can easily find someone to support them, of course. (BTW, this was a joke). Did anybody get this metaphor? Nope. They called me crazy instead.
Here's a list of schizohprenic language symptoms that are common of "formal thought disorder":
poverty of speech, poverty of content (wordy vagueness),
pressure of speech (excessive speed or emphasis),
distractibility (by stimuli in the environment), tangentiality (partly irrelevant replies), loss of goal,
derailment (loss of goal in gradual steps), circumstantiality (numerous digressions on the way to the goal), illogicality, incoherence ("word salad",
severely disrupted structure), neologisms (novel
made-up words), word approximations (coined substitutes for existing words, such as handshoe
dgloveT), stilted speech (pompous or overly formal
style), clanging, perseveration, echolalia, blocking
(sudden stoppage), and self-reference (talking about
oneself excessively).
There are examples of these symptoms at wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_disorder
Quote:
Thought is revealed through speech.[according to whom?] Thus, observation of patterns of thought naturally involves close observation of the speech of the individual being considered. Although it is normal to exhibit some of the following during times of extreme stress (e.g. a cataclysmic event or the middle of a war) it is the degree, frequency, and the resulting functional impairment that leads to the conclusion that the person being observed has a thought disorder.
Blocking – Interruption of train of speech before completion. e.g. "Am I early?" "No, you're just about on..."(silence) At an extreme degree, after blocking occurs, the speaker does not recall the topic he or she was discussing. True blocking is a common sign of schizophrenia.
Circumstantiality – Speech that is highly detailed and very delayed at reaching its goal. Speaking about many concepts related to the point of the conversation before eventually returning to the point and concluding the thought. Excessive long-windedness. e.g. "What is your name?" "Well, sometimes when people ask me that I have to think about whether or not I will answer because some people think it's an odd name even though I don't really because my mom gave it to me and I think my dad helped but it's as good a name as any in my opinion, I think it's a little weird to have the same name as two of my other names, but the fact that I like it, is a good thing... but yeah, it's Tom."
Clanging – Sounds, rather than meaningful relationships, appear to govern words or topics. Excessive rhyming, and/or alliteration. e.g. "Many moldy mushrooms merge out of the mildewy mud on Mondays." "I heard the bell. Well, hell, then I fell."
Derailment (also Loose Association and Knight's Move thinking) – Ideas slip off the topic's track on to another which is obliquely related or unrelated. e.g. "The next day when I'd be going out you know, I took control, like uh, I put bleach on my hair in California."
Distractible speech – During mid speech, the subject is changed in response to a stimulus. e.g. "Then I left San Francisco and moved to... where did you get that tie?"
Echolalia – Echoing of one's or other people's speech that may only be committed once, or may be continuous in repetition. This may involve repeating only the last few words or last word of the examiner's sentences. This can be a symptom of Tourette's Syndrome. e.g. "What would you like for dinner?", "That's a good question. That's a good question. That's a good question. That's a good question."
Evasive Interaction – Attempts to express ideas and/or feelings about another individual come out as evasive or in a diluted form, e.g.: "I... er ah... you are uh... I think you have... uh-- acceptable erm... uh... hair."
Flight of Ideas – A sequence of loose associations or extreme tangentiality where the speaker goes quickly from one idea to another seemingly unrelated idea. To the listener, the ideas seem unrelated and do not seem to repeat. Often pressured speech is also present. e.g. "I own five cigars. I've been to Havana. She rose out of the water, in a bikini."
Illogicality – Conclusions are reached that do not follow logically (non-sequiturs or faulty inferences). e.g. "Do you think this will fit in the box?" draws a reply like "Well duh; it's brown isn't it?"
Incoherence (word salad) – Speech that is unintelligible because, though the individual words are real words, the manner in which they are strung together results in incoherent gibberish, e.g. the question "Why do people comb their hair?" elicits a response like "Because it makes a twirl in life, my box is broken help me blue elephant. Isn't lettuce brave? I like electrons, hello."
Loss of goal – Failure to follow a train of thought to a natural conclusion. e.g. "Why does my computer keep crashing?", "Well, you live in a stucco house, so the pair of scissors needs to be in another drawer."
Neologisms – New word formations. These may also involve elisions of two words that are similar in meaning or in sound. e.g. "I got so angry I picked up a dish and threw it at the geshinker."
Perseveration – Persistent repetition of words or ideas. e.g. "It's great to be here in Nevada, Nevada, Nevada, Nevada, Nevada." This may also involve repeatedly giving the same answer to different questions. e.g. "Is your name Mary?" "Yes." "Are you in the hospital?" "Yes." "Are you a table?" "Yes." Perseveration can include palilalia and logoclonia and is often an indication of organic brain disease such as Parkinson's.
Phonemic paraphasia – Mispronunciation; syllables out of sequence. e.g. "I slipped on the lice and broke my arm."
Pressure of speech – An increase in the amount of spontaneous speech compared to what is considered customary. This may also include an increase in the rate of speech. Alternatively it may be difficult to interrupt the speaker; the speaker may continue speaking even when a direct question is asked.
Self-reference – Patient repeatedly and inappropriately refers back to self. e.g. "What's the time?", "It's 7 o'clock. That's my problem."
Semantic paraphasia – Substitution of inappropriate word. e.g. "I slipped on the coat, on the ice I mean, and broke my book."
Stilted speech – Speech excessively stilted and formal. e.g. "The attorney comported himself indecorously."
Tangentiality – Replying to questions in an oblique, tangential or irrelevant manner. e.g.:
Q: "What city are you from?"
A: "Well, that's a hard question. I'm from Iowa. I really don't know where my relatives came from, so I don't know if I'm Irish or French."
Word approximations – Old words used in a new and unconventional way. e.g. "His boss was a seeover."
Last edited by swbluto on 31 Oct 2011, 8:49 am, edited 8 times in total.
30 Oct 2011, 11:14 pm
