Apophenia as the Disposition to False Positives

Apophenia as the Disposition to False Positives: A Unifying Framework for Positive Symptoms across the Openness-Psychoticism Spectrum

Scott D. Blain, Julia M. Longenecker, Rachael G. Grazioplene, Bonnie Klimes-Dougan, & Colin G. DeYoung

Abstract

Positive symptoms of schizophrenia and its extended phenotype—psychoticism—are characterized by the inclusion of novel, erroneous mental contents. One promising framework for explaining positive symptoms involves “apophenia,” conceptualized here as a disposition toward false positive errors. Apophenia and positive symptoms have shown relations to Openness to Experience, and all of these constructs involve tendencies toward pattern seeking. Nonetheless, few studies have investigated the relations between psychoticism and non-self-report indicators of apophenia, let alone the role of normal personality variation. The current research tested relations among psychoticism, Openness, and apophenia, using a variety of behavioral tasks. Structural equation models tested associations between psychoticism, Openness, intelligence, and non-self-report indicators of apophenia comprising false positives in computerized tasks. In Sample 1, 1193 participants completed digit identification, theory of mind, and emotion recognition tasks. In Sample 2, 195 participants completed auditory signal detection and semantic word association tasks. Openness and psychoticism were positively correlated. Self-reported psychoticism, Openness, and their shared variance was strongly positively associated with behavioral apophenia, but not false negatives, even after controlling for intelligence. Standardized regression paths from Openness-psychoticism to apophenia were in the range of .68 to .94. Findings provide insights into the measurement of apophenia and its relation to psychoticism and Openness. Apophenia and pattern seeking may be promising constructs for unifying Openness with the psychotic spectrum and for providing an explanation of positive symptoms. Results are discussed in the context of possible adaptive characteristics of apophenia, as well as potential risk factors for development of psychotic disorders.