The influence of mood on the jumping to conclusions bias in individuals with schizotypal traits: an experience sampling paradigm.

The jumping to conclusions bias (JTC) refers to making a decision before collecting a sufficient amount of information to warrant doing so. Very little research has been conducted on the ways in which mood influences JTC in schizophrenia and healthy individuals along the continuum of risk for psychosis. It was hypothesized that elevations in schizotypal traits will be associated with greater JTC, and that negative affect will moderate the relationship between schizotypal traits and JTC. 100 undergraduate students enrolled at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) were recruited for this study. The study employed an experience-sampling approach. Positive affect demonstrated a small positive relationship to JTC, meaning that as an individual's positive affect increased so too did their JTC tendency, regardless of their elevations on schizotypal traits. While a significant negative relationship was found between schizotypal traits and JTC, the effect size was negligible, which may highlight the need for effort testing in undergraduate populations and evaluating the sensitivity of experimental tasks to increase data quality. Overall, identifying the influence of mood on metacognition is critical in determining how JTC functions within the illness.