Mental time travel for self and others in individuals with a high level of schizotypy

Abstract

AbstractMental time travel (MTT) is the ability to project oneself to the past or future through mental simulation. Moreover, MTT can involve self‐related or other‐related information. This study aimed to compare MTT in individuals with high levels of schizotypy and that in their counterparts with low levels of schizotypy. Participants with high (n = 37) and low (n = 37) levels of schizotypy completed an MTT task with four conditions [2 (Condition: self vs. other) × 2 (Time orientation: past vs. future)]. They were required to recall past events that had happened to themselves or to a non‐intimate person, and to imagine possible future events that might happen to themselves or to a non‐intimate person, related to cue words. Outcome measures included specificity, vividness, sense of experience, emotional valence, emotional intensity, proportion of first‐person visual perspective in events, and difficulty in event generation. A 2 (Group: high vs. low levels of schizotypy) × 2 (Condition) × 2 (Time orientation) mixed analysis of variance was conducted on each index. Results showed that self‐related MTT was more specific than other‐related MTT in low levels of schizotypy participants but not in high levels of schizotypy participants. Participants with a high level of schizotypy reported fewer specific events, and reported events with lower vividness and positive emotion than did those with a low level of schizotypy. Self‐related MTT showed higher levels of phenomenological characteristics than did other‐related MTT. In conclusion, individuals with a high level of schizotypy have altered MTT, and cannot benefit from the self‐advantage effect on the specificity of MTT.