A cognitive bias against disconfirmatory evidence (BADE) is associated with schizotypy

Abstract

A bias against disconfirmatory evidence (BADE) has been observed in schizophrenia, and in the present study we evaluated whether this extends to a nonclinical sample scoring high on a schizotypy scale. Thirty-seven high and 32 low schizotypy healthy participants were sequentially presented with three sentences that increasingly disambiguated the true content of a delusion-neutral scenario and were asked to rate the plausibility of four interpretations for this scenario. Relative to low schizotypy participants, high schizotypy participants continued to endorse their initial beliefs, even in the face of evidence that disconfirmed these beliefs. This result provides support for the "schizophrenia spectrum" account of psychosis.