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 children and 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.[12] Stilted speech is also exhibited as a symptom in the narcissistic personality disorder.[13]
See also
editReferences
edit- ↑ McKenna, P. J.; Oh, Tomasina M. (2005). Schizophrenic speech: making sense of bathroots and ponds that fall in doorways. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00905-8.
- ↑ Encyclopedia of autism spectrum disorders. Volkmar, Fred R. New York, NY: Springer. 2013. ISBN 9781441916976. OCLC 822231140.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - 1 2 Rosenblau, G; Kliemann, D; Dziobek, I; Heekeren, HR (February 2017). "Emotional prosody processing in autism spectrum disorder". Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. 12 (2): 224–39. doi:10.1093/scan/nsw118. PMC 5390729. PMID 27531389.
- ↑ Liddle, Peter F. (2001). Disordered Mind and Brain: The Neural Basis of Mental Symptoms. RCPsych Publications. ISBN 978-1-901242-65-2.
- ↑ Peralta, Victor; Cuesta, Manuel J.; de Leon, Jose (1992-03-01). "Formal thought disorder in schizophrenia: A factor analytic study". Comprehensive Psychiatry. 33 (2): 105–110. doi:10.1016/0010-440X(92)90005-B. ISSN 0010-440X.
- ↑ Covington, Michael A.; He, Congzhou; Brown, Cati; Naçi, Lorina; McClain, Jonathan T.; Fjordbak, Bess Sirmon; Semple, James; Brown, John (2005-09-01). "Schizophrenia and the structure of language: The linguist's view". Schizophrenia Research. 77 (1): 85–98. doi:10.1016/j.schres.2005.01.016.
- ↑ Khan M (2022). "Understanding and psychosocial treatment of schizoid personality disorder: a cognitive behavioural, psychoanalytical and bio energetic analysis approach". In Naik S (ed.). Emerging trends in medical sciences. Vol. 4. New Delhi: Integrated publications. pp. 45–62. ISBN 978-93-95118-07-1.
- 1 2 3 Ghaziuddin, M.; Gerstein, L. (December 1996). "Pedantic speaking style differentiates Asperger syndrome from high-functioning autism". Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 26 (6): 585–595. doi:10.1007/bf02172348. hdl:2027.42/44615. ISSN 0162-3257. PMID 8986845. S2CID 8508542.
- 1 2 Shriberg, L. D.; Paul, R.; McSweeny, J. L.; Klin, A. M.; Cohen, D. J.; Volkmar, F. R. (October 2001). "Speech and prosody characteristics of adolescents and adults with high-functioning autism and Asperger syndrome". Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 44 (5): 1097–1115. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.385.7116. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2001/087). ISSN 1092-4388. PMID 11708530. S2CID 1676598.
- 1 2 de Villiers, Jessica; Fine, Jonathan; Ginsberg, Gary; Vaccarella, Liezanne; Szatmari, Peter (August 2007). "Brief report: a scale for rating conversational impairment in autism spectrum disorder". Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 37 (7): 1375–1380. doi:10.1007/s10803-006-0264-1. ISSN 0162-3257. PMID 17082976. S2CID 6433996.
- ↑ Covington, Michael A.; He, Congzhou; Brown, Cati; Naçi, Lorina; McClain, Jonathan T.; Fjordbak, Bess Sirmon; Semple, James; Brown, John (2005-09-01). "Schizophrenia and the structure of language: the linguist's view". Schizophrenia Research. 77 (1): 85–98. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.532.2190. doi:10.1016/j.schres.2005.01.016. ISSN 0920-9964. PMID 16005388. S2CID 7206375.
- ↑ Adler, Caleb M.; Malhotra, Anil K.; Elman, Igor; Goldberg, Terry; Egan, Michael; Pickar, David; Breier, Alan (1999-10-01). "Comparison of Ketamine-Induced Thought Disorder in Healthy Volunteers and Thought Disorder in Schizophrenia". American Journal of Psychiatry. 156: 1646–1649, [1647]. doi:10.1176/ajp.156.10.1646.
- ↑ Akhtar, S.; Thomson, J. Anderson (Jan 1982). "Overview: Narcissistic Personality Disorder". American Journal of Psychiatry. 139 (1): 12–20. doi:10.1176/ajp.139.1.12. PMID 7034551.