OBJECTIVE Patients at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis show significant impairments in functioning. It is essential to determine which factors influence functioning, as it may have implications for intervention strategies. This study examined whether social cognitive abilities and clinical symptoms are associated with functioning and social skills. METHODS The study included 65 UHR patient...

Purpose. To assess the impact of clinical variables on social skills and behaviors in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and patient versus examiner estimates of social functioning. Methods. Twenty-eight patients with PD and 32 controls with chronic disease were assessed with a battery of neuropsychologic, personality, mood, and social function tests. Results. Patients' estimates of their own so...

OBJECTIVE Functional impairments are debilitating concomitants of psychotic disorders and are present early in the illness course and, commonly, prior to psychosis onset. The factors affecting social and role functioning in early psychosis (EP) following treatment are unclear. We evaluated whether six months of participation in the PREP(R), Boston, EP treatment program, part of a public-academi...

Theory of mind (ToM), the ability to attribute and reason about the mental states of others, is a strong determinant of social functioning among individuals with schizophrenia. Identifying the neural bases of ToM and their relationship to social functioning may elucidate functionally relevant neurobiological targets for intervention. ToM ability may additionally account for other social phenome...

this case study investigates the effects of robot assisted language learning (rall) on english vocabulary learning and retention of iranian children with high-functioning autism. two groups of three male students (6-10 years old) with high-functioning autism participated in the current study. the humanoid robot nao was used as a teacher assistant to teach english to the rall group. both rall an...

Vandell and colleagues found that children are most likely to benefi t from the resources provided to them in the early grades, and to succeed in later grades, if they demonstrate a cluster of social skills: communicating effectively, following directions, and cooperating; being attentive, enthusiastic, and actively involved in classroom activities; asking for and receiving help when needed; an...