IU Indianapolis ScholarWorks :: Browsing by Author "Davis, Beshaun J."

Browsing by Author "Davis, Beshaun J."

Now showing 1 - 10 of 11

Affective Systems Induce Formal Thought Disorder in Early-Stage Psychosis
(APA, 2016-05) Minor, Kyle S.; Marggraf, Matthew P.; Davis, Beshaun J.; Mehdiyoun, Nicole F.; Breier, Alan; Department of Psychology, School of Science
Although formal thought disorder (FTD) has been described since early conceptualizations of psychosis, its underlying mechanisms are unclear. Evidence suggests FTD may be influenced by affective and cognitive systems; however, few have examined these relationships—with none focusing on early-stage psychosis (EP). In this study, positive FTD and speech production were measured in sex- and race-matched EP (n = 19) and healthy control (n = 19) groups by assessing “reactivity”—a change in experimental compared with baseline conditions—across baseline, affective, and cognitive conditions. Relationships with functioning were also examined within each group. Three key findings emerged: (a) the EP group displayed large differences in positive FTD and speech production, (b) those with EP exhibited affective reactivity for positive FTD, and (c) positive FTD and affective reactivity were linked with poor real-world functioning in EP and these relationships did not considerably change when controlling for positive symptom (e.g., delusions, hallucinations) severity. Our findings provide preliminary evidence that affective, but not cognitive, systems play a critical role in positive FTD. Affective reactivity, in particular, may aid in predicting those with EP who go on to develop serious social impairments. Future work should focus on whether affective systems differentially influence those at separate points on the psychosis-spectrum in an effort to establish evidence-based treatments for FTD.
Compared to high and low cannabis use, moderate use is associated with fewer cognitive deficits in psychosis
(Elsevier, 2016-12) Martin, Ashley M. Schnakenberg; Bonfils, Kelsey A.; Davis, Beshaun J.; Smith, Elizabeth A.; Schuder, Kelly; Lysaker, Paul H.; Department of Psychiatry, IU School of Medicine
Literature on the relationship of cannabis use and cognition in schizophrenia provides the paradoxical view that cannabis use is sometimes linked with less severe impairment in neurocognition. This paper explored the possibility that this is a reflection of a dose related response between lifetime cannabis use and two forms of cognition, neurocognition and metacognition, in schizophrenia. It was hypothesized that three groups of patients could be differentiated, those with (1) little to no cannabis use with poor levels of cognition, (2) moderate cannabis use and relatively better levels of cognition and (3) high cannabis use with relatively poorer levels of cognition. Sixty-six adults with schizophrenia completed assessments of neurocognition, metacognition and months of lifetime cannabis use. A k-means cluster analysis yielded three distinct groups based on these assessments. The clusters included: (1) low cannabis/poor cognition (n = 34); (2) heavy cannabis/moderately impaired cognition (n = 10); and (3) moderate cannabis/higher cognition (n = 22). Consistent with our hypothesis, participants with high and moderate lifetime cannabis use had lesser impairment of neurocognition and metacognition compared to low lifetime cannabis use. Participants with moderate lifetime cannabis use also had lesser impairment of metacognition compared to low and heavy use. These findings suggest that a dose related relationship exists between cannabis use and cognition. Results could be due to an influence of pre-existing cognitive level on likelihood of lifetime cannabis use, or to an interaction between use and cognitive function.
Conceptual Disorganization Weakens Links in Cognitive Pathways: Disentangling Neurocognition, Social Cognition, and Metacognition in Schizophrenia
(Elsevier, 2015-12) Minor, Kyle S.; Marggraf, Matthew P.; Davis, Beshaun J.; Luther, Lauren; Vohs, Jenifer L.; Buck, Kelly D.; Lysaker, Paul H.; Department of Psychology, School of Science
Disentangling links between neurocognition, social cognition, and metacognition offers the potential to improve interventions for these cognitive processes. Disorganized symptoms have shown promise for explaining the limiting relationship that neurocognition holds with both social cognition and metacognition. In this study, primary aims included: 1) testing whether conceptual disorganization, a specific disorganized symptom, moderated relationships between cognitive processes, and 2) examining the level of conceptual disorganization necessary for links between cognitive processes to break down. To accomplish these aims, comprehensive assessments of conceptual disorganization, neurocognition, social cognition, and metacognition were administered to 67 people with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. We found that conceptual disorganization significantly moderated the relationship between neurocognition and metacognition, with links between cognitive processes weakening when conceptual disorganization is present even at minimal levels of severity. There was no evidence that conceptual disorganization—or any other specific disorganized symptom—drove the limiting relationship of neurocognition on social cognition. Based on our findings, conceptual disorganization appears to be a critical piece of the puzzle when disentangling the relationship between neurocognition and metacognition. Roles of specific disorganized symptoms in the neurocognition – social cognition relationship were less clear. Findings from this study suggest that disorganized symptoms are an important treatment consideration when aiming to improve cognitive impairments.
Making Meaning in the Presence of Sub-threshold Psychotic Symptoms: An Investigation of Metacognitive Capacity in Psychometric Schizotypy
(2016-04-15) Davis, Beshaun J.; Minor, Kyle Stuart; Lysaker, Paul H.; Salyers, Michelle Pensec; McGrew, John H.; Grahame, Nicholas J.
Schizophrenia is a complex and debilitating mental disorder characterized by a myriad of symptoms that affect multiple aspects of functioning. Metacognition, or the ability to form complex notions of oneself and others, has been evidenced to be deficient in schizophrenia. As such, one burgeoning line of research has sought to elucidate the role of metacognitive capacity on functional outcome across the schizophrenia spectrum. Although there is a substantial body of evidence about the role of metacognition in clinical manifestations of the disorder, few studies to date have explored whether similar deficits can be seen in individuals at risk for schizophrenia. One such at risk group is that of schizotypy wherein individuals demonstrate attenuated trait-like characteristics resembling less severe versions of those seen in psychosis. The aim of the current study was to investigate metacognitive capacities in this group. To that end, 67 participants were recruited (schizotypy = 34, control = 33) and two primary hypotheses were developed: 1) Individuals with schizotypy will exhibit significantly worse metacognition than a non-schizotypy group; and 2) Metacognition will account for additional variance above and beyond social cognition in predicting social functioning. Contrary to our hypotheses, group differences a metacognition and its subdomains were not significant. Further, inconsistent with studies in chronic schizophrenia, metacognition did not significantly predict social functioning. Our findings suggest that metacognition is preserved in schizotypy.
Meaning-Making Processes Across the Lifespan: An Investigation of Metacognitive Capacity and Autobiographical Reasoning
(2020-08) Davis, Beshaun J.; Minor, Kyle S.; Salyers, Michelle P.; Lysaker, Paul; Pietri, Evava
Deficits in metacognitive capacity (i.e., the ability to integrate knowledge of oneself and others into a cohesive whole) have been shown to lead to poor functional outcome in psychosis. However, there is a gap in the literature concerning the role of metacognition in typically developing populations, which makes it difficult to define what level of metacognition is normative. Evidence from other models of self-experience such as autobiographical reasoning indicate that self-reflection increases across the lifespan, suggesting that the same may be true for metacognitive capacity. Thus, the current study expands knowledge of the self-concept by establishing a connection between metacognitive capacity and autobiographical reasoning and exploring the developmental course of metacognition in healthy populations. To that end, the following aims were evaluated: 1) Determining the developmental trajectory of metacognitive capacity; 2) Elucidating the relationship between metacognitive capacity and autobiographical reasoning; and 3) Exploring the potential moderating effect of autobiographical reasoning on the proposed relationship between age and metacognitive capacity. Our findings suggest that overall metacognitive capacity is consistent across the lifespan; however, awareness of the experiences of others increases with age. We also found that metacognitive capacity and autobiographical reasoning are separate constructs, with only a trend level negative association between autobiographical reasoning and decentration. This novel study elucidates the role of aging on metacognition and suggests that self-reflectivity is generally intact in the absence of severe psychopathology.
Meaning-making processes across the lifespan: An investigation of the developmental course of metacognitive capacity
(Elsevier, 2022) Davis, Beshaun J.; Bonfils, Kelsey A.; Zalzala, Aieyat; Lysaker, Paul H.; Minor, Kyle S.; Psychology, School of Science
Deficits in metacognitive capacity (i.e., the ability to integrate knowledge of oneself and others into a cohesive whole) have been shown to lead to poor functional outcome in psychosis. However, there is a gap in the literature concerning the role of metacognition in typically developing populations, which makes it difficult to define what level of metacognition is normative and at what point deficits in metacognition suggest pathology. To explore this issue, we utilized cross-sectional design to assess metacognitive capacities among 69 neurotypical adults whose ages varied from 18 to 65 using the Metacognitive Assessment Scale - Abbreviated (MAS-A) and then compared those with MAS-A scores from a second previously gathered sample of 360 adults diagnosed with psychosis across four key developmental windows: emerging adulthood, early adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood. Our findings suggest that in our overall sample, individuals with psychosis had significantly lower levels of metacognitive capacity across all domains assessed by the MAS-A in comparison to neurotypical individuals. Additionally, our data suggest a deleterious effect of psychosis such that individuals with psychosis showed significantly lower metacognition in each developmental stage. Additionally, these differences were largest in emerging and late adulthood and for both groups awareness of others stood out as the single metacognitive domain which was significantly less impaired among older groups. Our results suggest a developmental course for metacognitive capacity such that awareness of others is the sole domain that grows over the lifespan.
Metacognitive Beliefs and Metacognitive Capacity: Do They Assess Related Phenomena?
(Wolters Kluwer, 2023) Ayala, Alexandra; Mickens, Jessica L.; Myers, Evan J.; Abel, Danielle B.; Hegwood, Ceouna M.; Davis, Beshaun J.; Lysaker, Paul H.; Minor, Kyle S.; Psychology, School of Science
Metacognition has been defined several ways across different fields. In schizophrenia, two primary approaches to assessing metacognition focus on measuring metacognitive beliefs and metacognitive capacity. The degree of association between these two approaches is unclear. In this pilot study, schizophrenia (n = 39) and control groups (n = 46) were assessed using metacognitive beliefs (Metacognition Questionnaire-30) and metacognitive capacity (Metacognition Assessment Scale-Abbreviated) scales. We also examined how these two approaches predicted quality of life. Results showed anticipated differences for metacognitive beliefs, metacognitive capacity, and quality of life when comparing schizophrenia and healthy control groups. However, metacognitive beliefs and metacognitive capacity were not significantly related and only predicted quality of life in the healthy control group. Although preliminary, these findings suggest these two approaches have a limited relationship with one another. Future studies should test these findings in larger samples and focus on examining associations at different levels of metacognitive functioning in those with schizophrenia.
Personalizing Interventions Using Real-World Interactions: Improving Symptoms and Social Functioning in Schizophrenia with Tailored Metacognitive Therapy
(American Psychological Association, 2022) Minor, Kyle S.; Marggraf, Matthew P.; Davis, Beshaun J.; Mickens, Jessica L.; Abel, Danielle B.; Robbins, Megan L.; Buck, Kelly D.; Wiehe, Sarah E.; Lysaker, Paul H.; Psychology, School of Science
Objective: When clients' lives are not reflected in therapy, they struggle to apply the skills learned in treatment to everyday situations. In this pilot study, we determined if using clients' real-world interactions in therapy could effectively target metacognitive capacity-yielding improved symptoms and social functioning-by tailoring treatment to focus on issues faced by clients in daily life. Method: Using a randomized controlled trial design, schizophrenia subjects with metacognitive deficits completed 24 sessions of: (a) Standard Metacognitive Reflection and Insight Therapy (MERIT); or (b) Tailored MERIT. Real-world interactions were captured via the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR), a smartphone application that passively records audio in daily life. All subjects wore the EAR; however, real-world interactions were only used to personalize sessions in Tailored MERIT. Results: Feasibility and acceptability were shown; those in Tailored MERIT wore the EAR 84% of their waking hours and reported minimal burden. When compared to Standard MERIT, Tailored MERIT participants showed large pre-post reductions in negative metacognitive beliefs and disorganized symptoms. Small, but nonsignificant, improvements in social functioning were also observed. Conclusions: Compared to an evidence-based benchmark, we observed that real-world interactions can be used to tailor metacognitive therapy and improve outcomes in schizophrenia. Tailored MERIT has the potential to impact practice by personalizing treatment to account for individual variations in environment and lifestyle-aligning with the Precision Medicine Initiative-in a way that is not possible with current therapy. This is particularly salient in schizophrenia, where limited insight and cognitive deficits often make subjective reporting unreliable.
Semantic coherence in psychometric schizotypy: An investigation using Latent Semantic Analysis
(Elsevier, 2018-01) Marggraf, Matthew P.; Cohen, Alex S.; Davis, Beshaun J.; DeCrescenzo, Paula; Bair, Natasha; Minor, Kyle S.; Psychology, School of Science
Technological advancements have led to the development of automated methods for assessing semantic coherence in psychiatric populations. Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) is an automated method that has been used to quantify semantic coherence in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. The current study examined whether: 1) Semantic coherence reductions extended to psychometrically-defined schizotypy and 2) Greater cognitive load further reduces semantic coherence. LSA was applied to responses generated during category fluency tasks in baseline and cognitive load conditions. Significant differences between schizotypy and non-schizotypy groups were not observed. Findings suggest that semantic coherence may be relatively preserved at this point on the schizophrenia-spectrum.
Speech production and disorganization in schizotypy: Investigating the role of cognitive and affective systems
(Elsevier, 2019) Marggraf, Matthew P.; Davis, Beshaun J.; Hardin, Kat L.; Abplanalp, Samuel J.; Haller, Jennifer A.; DeCrescenzo, Paula; Minor, Kyle S.; Psychology, School of Science
Diminished productivity and elevated disorganization have been detected in the speech of individuals with schizotypy. However, the underlying mechanisms for these disruptions are not well understood. Separate lines of research suggest potential contributions from cognitive and affective systems. In this study, disorganized speech and speech production were examined in speech samples generated by schizotypy (n = 47) and non-schizotypy (n = 51) groups by assessing “reactivity” (i.e., a change in experimental compared with baseline conditions) across baseline, affective, and dual-task (i.e., cognitive) conditions. Relationships with social functioning were also examined within each group. Three key findings emerged: 1) compared to the non-schizotypy group, those with schizotypy exhibited diminished speech production in the affective condition and affective reactivity was observed; 2) the schizotypy group displayed greater levels of disorganized speech in dual-task conditions and cognitive reactivity was observed; and 3) affective reactivity for disorganized speech was linked to worse social functioning within the schizotypy group. This study provides evidence that cognitive and affective systems are uniquely involved in separate characteristics of speech in schizotypy. At this stage, cognitive systems appear to have a specific role in the organization of speech, whereas affective systems are more heavily involved in speech production. Regarding the association between affective reactivity and social functioning, previous research has demonstrated individuals highly reactive to emotional stimuli carry additional risk for conversion to psychosis. Future research identifying a subset with schizotypy who demonstrate affective reactivity could lead to a better understanding of links between schizotypy and future psychosis symptoms.

Browsing by Author "Davis, Beshaun J."

Results Per Page

Sort Options