Further evidence of reduced negative priming in positive schizotypy

Negative priming was assessed in a sample of 100 healthy subjects. High scorers on positive schizotypal scales (for instance, the Perceptual Aberration Scale) displayed reduced negative priming as compared to those with low scores. Except for the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) subscale "Social Anxiety", which has been considered a negative symptom scale in previous SPQ-analyses, no negative schizotypal or depression scale was associated with negative priming performance. In line with DSM-IV, it is suggested that "Social Anxiety" may partly reflect an epiphenomenon of positive symptomatology. Confirming previous investigations, schizotypy was not significantly related to interference. The results add some convergent and discriminant validity to the hypothesis that reduced negative priming is a neuropsychological correlate of high positive schizotypy. Moreover, it is argued that early perceptual disturbances have not contributed to a reduction of negative priming in high schizotypes, since no critical stimulus duration was introduced. Finally, the issue is addressed that an interpretation of negative priming in the context of cognitive inhibition is problematic. There are at least two major theories on negative priming which support different cognitive models of schizophrenia and schizotypy, respectively.