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Cited by 99Schizophrenia research and treatmentAction Observation and SynchronizationMental Health and Psychiatry

Imitation, simulation, and schizophrenia

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Park, S., Matthews, N., Gibson, C.·2007·Schizophrenia Bulletin
DOI 10.1093/schbul/sbn048PMC PMC2632442
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Abstract

The social significance of imitation is that it provides internal tools for understanding the actions of others by simulating or forming internal representations of these actions. Imitation plays a central role in human social behavior by mediating diverse forms of social learning. However, imitation and simulation ability in schizophrenia has not been adequately addressed. The major aim of the present study was to investigate imitation ability in schizophrenia patients and healthy individuals by examining simple motor imitation that involved the replication of meaningless manual and oral gestures, and the imitation of emotional facial expressions, which has implications for mentalizing. A secondary aim of the present study was to investigate the relationships among imitation ability, social functioning, and working memory. Subjects were asked to mimic hand gestures, mouth movements, and facial expressions of others, online. Clinical symptoms, social competence, and working memory were also assessed. Patients with schizophrenia were significantly impaired on all imitation tasks. Imitation errors were significantly correlated with reduced social competence and increased negative symptoms. However, imitation ability was only weakly associated with working memory. To summarize, the present study examined the ability of patients with schizophrenia to imitate the behaviors demonstrated by others. The results indicate a fundamental impairment in imitation ability in schizophrenia and implicate a possible difficulty in simulation. Further research to determine the neural and developmental origins of this difficulty could be extremely helpful in elucidating the role of simulation in schizophrenia and to establish the complex relationships among mental representation, imitation, and social cognition.

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  • Across prior studies, patients have repeatedly made more imitation errors than healthy people for facial and manual actions and for facial expressions.

    “This research has consistently shown that patients make more errors when asked to imitate facial and manual movements [8][9][10][25][26][27][28] and facial expressions 7,10,26,[29][30][31] compared to healthy individuals.”

    From Enhanced Automatic Action Imitation and Intact Imitation-Inhibition in Schizophrenia (2019) · cites this paper as [10]

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Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. [38]First MB, Spitzer RL, Gibbon M, Williams JBW. Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I) Arlington, VA: APPI; 1997. [Google Scholar]
  2. [40]Andreasen NC. The Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS) Iowa City, IA: The University of Iowa; 1984. [Google Scholar]
  3. [46]Lundquist D, Flykt A, Ohman A. The Karolinska Directed Emotional Faces [CD-ROM] Stockholm, Sweden: The Karolinska Institute; 1998. [Google Scholar]
  4. [48]Dimberg U, Lundquist O. Facial reactions to facial expressions: sex differences. Psychophysiology. 1988;25:442–443. [Google Scholar]

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Authors
Park, S., Matthews, N., & Gibson, C.
Affiliations
Vanderbilt University (US)
Corresponding author
Park, S.
ORCID
Venue
Schizophrenia Bulletin
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2007-11-21
Volume
34
Issue
4
Pages
698-707
ISSN
  • 0586-7614 (ISSN-L)
  • 1745-1701
DOI
10.1093/schbul/sbn048
PMC
PMC2632442
OpenAlex
W2159482838
Cited by
99
References
65
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 5
FWCI
1.61
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Schizophrenia Bulletin (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Mental Health and Psychiatry
Keywords
imitation, simulation
MeSH terms
Adult, Cognition Disorders, Emotions, Facial Expression, Female, Gestures, Hand, Humans, Imitative Behavior, Male, Memory, Motor Activity, Neuropsychological Tests, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Schizophrenia, Schizophrenic Psychology, Social Adjustment, Social Perception, Control Groups

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