The Association of Metacognition with Neurocognition and Function in Schizophrenia: Advances from the Study of Personal Narratives

Research has confirmed that many with schizophrenia experience deficits in metacognitive capacity defined as impairments in the ability to think about thinking, both with regards to their own thinking and the thinking of others. These difficulties are related to but not reducible to symptoms. One question posed here for contemporary research regards how these deficits are linked to other forms of cognitive deficits, including deficits in neurocognition, and how they and other forms of cognitive deficits are related to the ability to function. As neurocognition is degraded during the early course of schizophrenia, does the ability to think about one’s own thinking diminish? Furthermore, even if related to deficits in neurocognition, do deficits in metacognition affect function in a manner independent of deficits in neurocognition? Does metacognitive function mediate the impact of neurocognitive deficits on daily functioning? To explore these possibilities, this chapter reviews recent studies which have advanced our understanding of these issues by studying metacognition as it occurs spontaneously within personal narratives of self and illness by adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Results are presented which suggest that impairments in verbal memory and executive function may interfere with the ability to form and sustain representation of one’s own internal state as well as the internal states of others. Additionally, results are detailed which suggest that metacognitive deficits directly affect function prospectively and may mediate the impact of neurocognitive deficits on functioning.