Behaviour Research and Therapy 45 (2007) 1401–1408 Shorter communication Hallucination proneness, schizotypy and meta-cognition John Stirling a,Ã , Emma Barkus b , Shon Lewis b a Department of Psychology, Manchester Metropolitan University, Elizabeth Gaskell Building, Hathersage Road, M13 0JA, UK b Neuroscience and Psychiatry Unit, The University of Manchester, Stopford Building, Oxford Road, M13 9PT, UK Received 15 December 2005; received in revised form 19 June 2006; accepted 21 June 2006 Abstract Disordered or maladaptive meta-cognitive processing appears to be a prominent feature for some individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. We sought to establish whether healthy individuals distinguished either in terms hallucination proneness (HP) or level of schizotypy could also be differentiated on the sub-scales of the Meta-cognitions Questionnaire (MCQ), or a modified version of it in which items about worry were replaced with items specifically related to thinking. A total of 106 healthy volunteers completed the Oxford and Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences and Launay–Slade hallucination scale, the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire and two versions of the MCQ: the original which assesses five domains of meta-cognition and an adapted version in which items relating to worry had been replaced by items relating to thinking or reflecting on thinking (MCQ-th). ANOVA indicated highly significant differences between three groups of individuals differentiated in terms of high, medium and low proneness to hallucinations on four of the five MCQ sub-scales, and three of the four MCQ-th factors. Regression analyses indicated that the MCQ factors encompassing (1) a sense of uncontrollability of thinking (and the perceived attendant dangers of this) and (2) negative beliefs about thinking related to suspicion and punishment were the strongest predictors of high schizotypy. Individuals who score higher on a measure of HP are more likely to display patterns of meta-cognitive processing that resemble, in certain respects, those reported in individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. High schizotypy predicts a negative appraisal about both the controllability and consequences of thinking. r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Meta-cognition; Hallucination proneness; Schizotypy Introduction Meta-cognition has been conceptualised as the process of ‘thinking about thinking’ (Flavell, 1979). It refers to an individual’s knowledge about, and awareness of, their own cognitive processes in relation to intentions, actions or evaluations. There has, for some time, been interest in the role(s) that impaired meta-cognitive processing may play in the manifestation of psychotic symptoms, particularly in schizophrenia. Both Hoffman (1986) and Frith (1992) have argued that certain (positive) symptoms of schizophrenia stem from a deficit in meta-cognition related to unawareness of agency in respect of thoughts and/or actions. This approach is often ARTICLE IN PRESS www.elsevier.com/locate/brat 0005-7967/$ - see front matter r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2006.06.003 Ã Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 161 247 2561; fax: +44 161 247 6364. E-mail address: j.stirling@mmu.ac.uk (J. Stirling).