Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The basis of feeling-of-knowing judgments in patients with schizophrenia

  • Published:
Metacognition and Learning Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We examined the basis of feeling-of-knowing judgments (FOK) in patients with schizophrenia. Such patients typically have impaired memory and awareness, but not metamemory-accuracy deficits. The magnitude of FOKs are lower for patients with schizophrenia than for healthy participants, but judgments equally predict memory performance. In healthy participants, FOK is based on accessible information, including retrieval of partial-target (e.g., retrieving the first letter) and contextual information (e.g., related facts). In Experiment 1, we examined if accessible information predicts FOKs for episodic memory in patients with schizophrenia. Patients and healthy controls learned names paired with drawings of imaginary animals. The results showed that patients’ FOK increased with the retrieval of partial-target and contextual information. In Experiment 2, using semantic-memory general-information questions, accessible partial-target information predicted FOKs in patients with schizophrenia. The accessibility model of FOK applies to patients with schizophrenia, and it is important to determine what occurs in other memory-impaired populations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Akdoğan, E., Izaute, M., & Bacon, E. (2014). Preserved Strategic Grain-Size Regulation in Memory Reporting in Patients with Schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry, 76, 154–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aleman, A., Hijman, R., Haan, E., & Kahn, R. (1999). Memory Impairment in Schizophrenia: A Meta-Analysis. American Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 1358–1366.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bacon, E., Akdoğan, A., & Izaute, M. (2015). Better memory improvement after a JOL than after relearning: an effect of the involvement of retrieval attempt when monitoring knowledge? DUCOG: Conference on Cognitive Science, Metacognition and Reasoning, 21-23, 5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bacon, E., Danion, J. M., Kauffmann-Muller, F., & Bruant, A. (2001). Consciousness in Schizophrenia: A Metacognitive Approach to Semantic Memory. Consciousness and Cognition, 10, 473–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bacon, E., Huet, N., & Danion, J. M. (2011). Metamemory knowledge and beliefs in patients with schizophrenia and how these relate to objective cognitive abilities. Consciousness and Cognition, 20, 1315–1326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bacon, E., & Izaute, M. (2009). Metacognition in schizophrenia: processes underlying patients’ reflections on their own episodic memory. Biological Psychiatry, 66, 1031–1037.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bacon, E., & Izaute, M. (2014). Memory-related metacognition in patients with schizophrenia. In P. Lysaker, G. Dimaggio, & M. Brüne (Eds.), Social cognition and metacognition: Psychopathology and Treatment Approaches (pp. 85–95). Elsevier Academic Press: London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bacon, E., Izaute, M., & Danion, J. (2007). Preserved Memory Monitoring but Impaired Memory Control During Episodic Encoding in Patients with Schizophrenia. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 13, 219–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barch, D. M., & Ceaser, A. (2012). Cognition in schizophrenia: core psychological and neural mechanisms. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16, 27–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Besche-Richard, C., Terrien, S., Lesgourgues, M., Béchiri-Payet, C., Gierski, F., & Limosin, F. (2014). Remediation of context-processing deficits in schizophrenia: preliminary data with ambiguous sentences. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 10, 2307–2312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boduroglu, A., Pehlivanoglu, D., Tekcan, A. İ., & Kapucu, A. (2015). Effects of self-referencing on feeling-of-knowing accuracy and recollective experience. Memory, 23, 736–747.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowie, C., & Harvey, P. (2006). Cognitive deficits and functional outcome in schizophrenia. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 2, 531–536.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brewer, G. A., Marsh, R. L., Clark-Foos, A., & Meeks, J. T. (2010). Noncriterial recollection influences metacognitive monitoring and control processes. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 63, 1936–1942.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bryson, G., Whelahan, H. A., & Bell, M. (2001). Memory and executive function impairments in deficit syndrome schizophrenia. Psychiatry Research, 102, 29–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cella, M., Reeder, C., & Wykes, T. (2016). Group cognitive remediation for schizophrenia: Exploring the role of therapist support and metacognition. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 89, 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chung, Y. S., Mathews, J. R., & Barch, D. M. (2011). The Effect of Context Processing on Different Aspects of Social Cognition in Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 37, 1048–1056.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Danion, J. M., Rizzo, L., & Bruant, A. (1999). Functional mechanisms underlying impaired recognition memory and conscious awareness in patients with schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 56, 639–644.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Danion, J. M., Gokaising, E., Robert, P., et al (2001) Defective relationship between subjective experience and behavior in schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 2064–2066.

  • Danion, J. M., Huron, C., Vidailhet, P., & Berna, F. (2007). Functional mechanisms of episodic memory impairment in schizophrenia. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 52, 693–701.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hart, J. T. (1965). Memory and the feeling-of-knowing experience. Journal of Educational Psychology, 56, 208–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanczakowski, M., Zawadzka, K., Collie, H., & Macken, B. (2017). Metamemory in a Familiar Place: The Effects of Environmental Context on Feeling of Knowing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 43, 59–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hertzog, C., Dunlosky, J., & Sinclair, S. M. (2010). Episodic feeling-of-knowing resolution derives from the quality of original encoding. Memory & Cognition, 38, 771–784.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hertzog, C., Fulton, E. K., Sinclair, S. M., & Dunlosky, J. (2014). Recalled aspects of original encoding strategies influence episodic feelings of knowing. Memory & Cognition, 42, 126–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huron, C., Danion, J. M., Giacomoni, F., Grangé, D., Robert, P., & Rizzo, L. (1995). Impairment of recognition memory with, but not without, conscious recollection in schizophrenia. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 1737–1742.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Isingrini, M., Sacher, M., Perrotin, A., Taconnat, L., Souchay, C., Stoehr, H., & Bouazzaoui, B. (2016). Episodic feeling-of-knowing relies on noncriterial recollection and familiarity: Evidence using an online remember-know procedure. Consciousness & Cognition, 41, 31–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2016.01.011.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Izaute, M., & Bacon, E. (2016a). Metamemory in psychopathology. In J. Dunlosky & S. K. Tauber (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of Metamemory (pp. 473–488). London: Oxford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Izaute, M., Chambres, P., & Larochelle, S. (2002). Feeling-of-knowing for Proper Names. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 56, 264–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Izaute, M., & Jalenques, I. (2014). Metamemory with ageing in schizophrenia: A first study. Psychiatry Research, 219, 703–706.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Izaute, M., Larochelle, S., Morency, J., & Tiberghien, G. (1996). La validité du sentiment de savoir au rappel et à la reconnaissance. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 50, 163–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kay, S., Fiszbein, A., & Opler, L. (1987). The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) for Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 13, 261–276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kazes, M., Berthet, L., Danion, J. M., Amado, I., Willard, D., Robert, P., & Poirier, M. F. (1999). Impairment of consciously controlled use of memory in schizophrenia. Neuropsychology, 13, 54–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kern, R. S., Gold, J. M., Dickinson, D., Green, M. F., Nuechterlein, K. H., Baade, L. E., Keefe, R. S. E., Mesholam-Gately, R. I., Seidman, L. J., Lee, C., Sugar, C. A., & Marder, S. R. (2011). The MCCB impairment profile for schizophrenia outpatients: Results from the MATRICS psychometric and standardization study. Schizophrenia Research, 126, 124–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kitchen, H., Rofail, D., Heron, L., & Sacco, P. (2013). Cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia: a review of the humanistic burden. Advances in Therapy, 29, 148–162. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12325-012-0001-4 Epub 2012 Feb 10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koriat, A. (1993). How do we know that we know? The accessibility model of the feeling of knowing. Psychological Review, 100, 609–639.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koriat, A. (1995). Dissociating knowing and the feeling of knowing: Further evidence for the accessibility model. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 124, 311–333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koriat, A. (2000). The feeling of knowing: some metatheoretical implications for consciousness and control. Consciousness and Cognition, 9, 149–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lysaker, P. H., Vohs, J. L., Ballard, R., Fogley, R., Salvatore, G., Popolo, R., & Dimaggio, G. (2013). Metacognition, self-reflection and recovery in schizophrenia. Future Neurology, 8, 103–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lysaker, P., Dimaggio, G., & Brüne, M. (2014). Social cognition and metacognition in schizophrenia: Psychopathology and treatment approaches. London: Elsevier Academic Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • McGurk, S. R., Twamley, E. W., Sitzer, D. I., McHugo, G. J., & Mueser, K. T. (2007). A Meta-Analysis of Cognitive Remediation in Schizophrenia. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 164, 1791–1802.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medalia, A., & Lim, R. W. (2004). Self-awareness of cognitive functioning in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 71, 331–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medalia A, & Thysen J.A. (2010). A comparison of insight into clinical symptoms versus insight into neuro-cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 118, 134-139.

  • Monteiro, L. C., Silva, V. A., & Louzã, M. R. (2008). Insight, cognitive dysfunction and symptomatology in schizophrenia. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 258, 402–405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moritz, S., Woodward, T. S., & Ruff, C. C. (2003). Source monitoring and memory confidence in schizophrenia. Psychological Medicine, 33, 131–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moritz, S., Woodward, T. S., & Chen, E. (2006a). Investigation of metamemory dysfunctions in first-episode schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 81, 247–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moritz, S., Woodward, T. S., & Rodriguez-Raecke, R. (2006b). Patients with schizophrenia do not produce more false memories than controls but are more confident in them. Psychological Medicine, 36, 659–667.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, T. O. (1984). A comparison of current measures of the accuracy of feeling-of-knowing predictions. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 109–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinheiro, A. P., Del Re, E., Nestor, P. G., Mezin, J., Rezaii, N., McCarley, R. W., Gonçalves, Ó. F., & Niznikiewicz, M. (2015). Abnormal interactions between context, memory structure, and mood in schizophrenia: An ERP investigation. Psychophysiology, 52, 20–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raffard, S., Fond, G., Brittner, M., Bortolon, C., Macgregor, A., Boulenger, J. P., Gely-Nargeot, M. C., & Capdevielle, D. (2013). Cognitive insight as an indicator of competence to consent to treatment in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 144, 118–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2012.12.011.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ragland, J.D., Ranganath C., Harms, M.P., Barch, D.M., Gold, J.M., Layher., E., Lesh, T.A., MacDonald, A.W. 3rd, Niendam, T.A., Phillips. J., Silverstein, S.M., Yonelinas, A.P., & Carter, C.S. (2015). Functional and Neuroanatomic Specificity of Episodic Memory Dysfunction in Schizophrenia: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of the Relational and Item-Specific Encoding Task. JAMA Psychiatry, 72, 909–916. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.0276.

  • Rajji, T. K., Miranda, D., & Mulsant, B. H. (2014). Cognition, Function, and Disability in Patients With Schizophrenia: A Review of Longitudinal Studies. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Revue Canadienne de Psychiatrie, 59, 13–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reder, L. M., & Ritter, F. E. (1992). What determines initial feeling of knowing? Familiarity with question terms, not with the answer. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 18, 435–451.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sass, L. A., & Parnas, J. (2003). Schizophrenia, consciousness, and the self. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 29, 427–444.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schaefer, J., Giangrande, E., Weinberger, D. R., & Dickinson, D. (2013). The global cognitive impairment in schizophrenia: consistent over decades and around the world. Schizophrenia Research, 150, 42–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2013.07.009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, B. L., Boduroglu, A., & Tekcan, A. I. (2016). Methodological concerns: The feeling-of-knowing task affects resolution. Metacognition and Learning, 11, 305–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, B. L., Pillot, M., & Bacon, E. (2014). Contextual information influences the feeling of knowing in episodic memory. Consciousness and Cognition, 29, 96–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, B L., & Smith, S. M (1997). The retrieval of related information influences Tip-of-the-Tongue States. Journal of Memory and Language, 36, 68–86.

  • Sevy, S., Nathanson, K., Visweswaraiah, H., & Amador, X. (2004). The relationship between insight and symptoms in schizophrenia. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 45, 16–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheffield, J. M., Gold, J. M., Strauss, M. E., Carter, C. S., MacDonald 3rd, A. W., Ragland, J. D., Silverstein, S. M., & Barch, D. M. (2014). Common and specific deficits in schizophrenia: relationships to function. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience, 14, 161–174. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-013-0211-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmukler, A. B., Gurovich, I. Y., Agius, M., & Zaytseva, Y. (2015). Long-term trajectories of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia: A critical overview. European Psychiatry, 30, 102–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, S. M. (1994). Frustrated feelings of imminent recall: On the tip of the tongue. In J. Metcalfe & A. P. Shimamura (Eds.), Metacognition: Knowing about Knowing (pp. 27–45). Cambridge: The MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sonntag, P., Gokalsing, E., Olivier, C., Robert, P., Burglen, F., Kauffmann-Muller, F., Huron, C., Salame, P., & Danion, J. M. (2003). Impaired strategic regulation of contents of conscious awareness in schizophrenia. Consciousness and Cognition, 12, 190–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Souchay, C. (2013). Métamémoire et troubles de la mémoire : L’exemple du Feeling-of-Knowing. Revue de Neuropsychologie, 5, 265–272.

    Google Scholar 

  • Souchay, C., Bacon, E., & Danion, J. M. (2006). Episodic feeling-of-knowing in schizophrenia. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 28, 828–840.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, A. K., Lee, M., & Hughes, G. (2016). Introspecting on the Elusive: The Uncanny State of the Feeling of Knowing. In J. Dunlosky & S. Tauber (Eds). Oxford Handbook of Metamemory (pp. 81–94). Oxford University Press: New York.

  • Thuaire F, Izaute M, & Bacon E. (2012). Evidence of some strategic preservation of episodic learning in patients with schizophrenia. Psychiatry Research, 195, 27–31. IP 2,456.

  • Touskova, T., & Bob, P. (2015). Consciousness, awareness of insight and neural mechanisms of schizophrenia. Review of Neuroscience, 26, 295–304. https://doi.org/10.1515/revneuro-2014-0063.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study received support from INSERM (the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research), the University Hospital of Strasbourg, and Strasbourg University (Unistra). The authors thank Denis Dumas, who designed the TOTimals, Patrick Gries for computerization of the task, Evgenia Sevdinoglou, who was involved in testing the participants of Experiment 1. We thank Christel Jacob and Catherine Mertz for testing patients in Experiment 2.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Inserm u1114, Strasbourg, France

    Elisabeth Bacon

  2. Strasbourg University Hospital, Strasbourg, France

    Elisabeth Bacon

  3. Federation of Translational Medicine of Strasbourg (FMTS), Strasbourg, France

    Elisabeth Bacon

  4. University of Strasbourg (Unistra), Strasbourg, France

    Elisabeth Bacon & Mathieu Pillot

  5. CNRS, LAPSCO, Université Clermont Auvergne, F-63037, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Marie Izaute

  6. Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Bennett L. Schwartz

Authors
  1. Elisabeth Bacon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mathieu Pillot
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marie Izaute
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Bennett L. Schwartz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bennett L. Schwartz.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bacon, E., Pillot, M., Izaute, M. et al. The basis of feeling-of-knowing judgments in patients with schizophrenia. Metacognition Learning 13, 91–108 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-018-9179-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-018-9179-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation