Stilted speech
In psychiatry, stilted speech or pedantic speech[1] is communication characterized by situationally inappropriate formality.[2] This formality can be expressed both through abnormal prosody[3] as well as speech content that is "inappropriately pompous, legalistic, philosophical, or quaint".[4] Often, such speech can act as evidence for autism spectrum disorders (ASD)[3] or a thought disorder,[5] a common symptom in schizophrenia[6] or schizoid personality disorder.[7]
To diagnose stilted speech, researchers have previously looked for the following characteristics:[8]
- Speech conveying more information than necessary
- Vocabulary and grammar expected from formal writing rather than conversational speech
- Unnecessary repetition or corrections
While literal and long-winded word content is often the most identifiable feature of stilted speech, such speech often displays irregular prosody, especially in resonance.[8] Often, the loudness, pitch, rate, and nasality of pedantic speech vary from normal speech, resulting in the perception of pedantic or stilted speaking. For example, overly loud or high-pitched speech can come across to listeners as overly forceful while slow or nasal speech creates an impression of condescension.[9]
These attributions, which are commonly found in patients with autism,[9] partially account for why stilted speech has been considered a diagnostic criterion for autism.[8] Stilted speech, along with atypical intonation, semantic drift, terseness, and perseveration, are all known deficits with adolescents on the autism spectrum.[10] Often, stilted speech found in children with autism will also be especially stereotypic or in some cases even rehearsed.[10]
Patients with schizophrenia are also known to have stilted speech. This symptom is attributed to both an inability to access more commonly used words and a difficulty understanding pragmatics — the relationship between language and context.[11] However, stilted speech appears as a less common symptom compared to a certain number of other symptoms of the psychosis (Adler et al 1999).[12] This element of cognitive disorder is also exhibited as a symptom in the narcissistic personality disorder (Akhtar & Thomson 1982).[13]
See also
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ^ McKenna P.J., Oh T.M. (2012.) Schizophrenic Speech: Making Sense of Bathroots and Ponds that Fall in Doorways, Cambridge University Press, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- ^ Peter F. Liddle, Royal College of Psychiatrists Disordered mind and brain: the neural basis of mental symptoms, 301 pages RCPsych Publications, 2001 Retrieved 2012-01-12 Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Victor Peralta, Manuel J. Cuesta, Jose de Leon Title:Formal thought disorder in schizophrenia: A factor analytic study, Publication:Comprehensive Psychiatry Elsevier March–April 1992, Elsevier Retrieved 2012-01-12
- ^ [1] Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). Retrieved 2012-01-12
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- ^ Jeffrey A. Lieberman, T. Scott Stroup, Diana O. Perkins, American Psychiatric Publishing The American Psychiatric Publishing textbook of schizophrenia - 435 pages American Psychiatric Pub, 2006 Retrieved 2012-01-12 Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ S. Akhtar and J. Anderson Thomson, "Overview: Narcissistic personality Disorder" American Journal of Psychiatry 139:1 Retrieved 2012-01-12