TO THE QUESTION OF MEANING IN SCHIZOPHRENIA: VERBAL ASSOCIATIVE REACTIONS AS AN INDICATOR OF A SIGN SYSTEM DISTORTION IN PATIENTS

This article contains data from an experimental study of the hypothesis that there is a connection between the characteristics of verbal associative response as a special case of schizophrenia patients speech behavior with the meaning-making peculiarities, the quality of mental activity and the personal-subjective sphere. It was determined that in a group of 27 subjects (patients of the neuropsychiatric hospital inpatient department diagnosed with schizophrenia) the types of verbal associative response are associated with the meaning-making emotional component in situations of work with socially relevant stimuli, but do not reveal connections with mental or intellectual activity, that confirms generally supposition concerning interinfluence of the language behavior and interpsychic area. It is also determined that structure of verbal associative reaction of schizophrenics principally implements the function of formalization of relationships with the environment. However, in such case their ability to assess metacommunicative side of social interaction is weak, that is generally typical for clinical specificity of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. The most significant point is that a stable tendency to usage of nominally narrative categories in verbal behavior of schizophrenics reduces ability to understanding motives of surrounding people and serve as protection from emotional reaction.