Social Cognitive Deficits in Schizophrenia: Does Culture Matter?

Live Poster Session: Zoom Link
Thursday, July 30th 1:15-2:30pm EDT

Zanny Weinreb
Zanny Weinreb

Zanny Weinreb is a rising junior (‘22) from Newton, Massachusetts, where she graduated from Newton South High School. At Wesleyan, Zanny is majoring in psychology, part of the Wesleyan Doula Project, and a member of the Kurtz lab. She loves the ocean and aquatic life, exploring new places, and going to classmate’s performances at Wes. After college, she is thinking about going to nursing school to become a nurse practitioner.

Francesca Li
Francesca Li

Francesca Li is a rising junior from Moorestown New Jersey, where she graduated from Moorestown High School. At Wesleyan, Francesca is majoring in Neuroscience and Behavior and minoring in Chemistry. She is a member of the Women’s Lacrosse team, a part of the Wesleyan Individual tutoring program and a member of the Kurtz Lab. Outside of school she loves to hike, swim and play with her dog. After college she hopes to go to medical school one day! 

Abstract: Individuals with schizophrenia often experience deficits in social cognition and social functioning. Specifically, they may have difficulty in domains such as theory of mind, empathy, affect recognition, and social perception. These difficulties may serve as barriers to normal social interactions, including perceiving and responding to the actions of others as well as correctly identifying social contexts. Most of the research on social cognition in schizophrenia has taken place in western cultures using measures based on western societal norms. This has led to questions of culture’s influence on social cognition in individuals with schizophrenia. For example: how might differing social norms affect social cognition? And, does culture influence the utility of current measures used to test social cognition across the world? Relevant studies collected from the PsychINFO, PubMed, CINAHL, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses databases, published in or after 1980, will be used to address these questions. Insight into culture’s influence on social cognition and its measurement could lead to the development of more culturally-sensitive approaches to the assessment, treatment, and understanding of schizophrenia. Findings could also call into question our fundamental understanding of social cognition in people with schizophrenia — such as its neural components, development, and presentation, requiring further research.

Social-Cognition-Poster-ZAnny-Weinreb

Live Poster Session: Zoom Link
Thursday, July 30th 1:15-2:30pm EDT

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