Seeing words that are not there: detection biases in schizotypy.

OBJECTIVE The present study introduced a novel word-detection paradigm to examine detection biases as a function of different schizotypy dimensions in a sample of undergraduate students. METHOD The participants (N = 80) were asked to detect fast moving (8 frames/second) words among simultaneously moving non-words. RESULTS Positive schizotypy was associated with a tendency to report words that never appeared in the trials. This effect was independent of task order, impulsivity and social desirability. None of the schizotypy measures were associated with correct words (detection accuracy). CONCLUSIONS A bias to report events in the absence of corresponding events may constitute a cross-modal mechanism responsible for translating internally generated experiences into perceptual experiences.