The schizophrenic experience: taken out of context?

A currently favored cognitive model of the abnormal behaviors and experiences characteristic of schizophrenia suggests that they may be linked to a disturbance in the effects of context. The present article reviews some of the relevant literature, noting the wide range of experimental paradigms that have been employed. This range of paradigms is both a strength and a potential weakness of the literature because it raises complex issues of definition and the need to distinguish the various ways that context may influence behaviors. This influence may be crucially dependent on specific task parameters. Despite this, a number of phenomena can be plausibly related to changes in the way that context operates: delusions, disorganization, hallucinations, and the loss of a sense of personal identity. Potential links with the neural bases of the disorder are indicated.