Abstract: The subject of the present research is the dependence of generalisation process distortion on external contextual factors (task settings) of patients suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and its relation to the deficit of specific, socially important and typical internal context. Within the framework of this article external context is viewed as conditions for task presentation, internal context is viewed as the structure of semantic representations of social experience. The authors employ different ways of internal context actualisation depending on variable conditions of stimulus material presentation. The research involved 20 patients suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and 21 mentally healthy respondents. The authors have applied a modified version of the Cross-Out the Odd Item Test with two sample sets that imply variation of semantic connections between items and intensification of hidden, connotative, emotionally charged features of items. The authors demonstrate the growth of external semantic context due to sensibilization of relevant semantic connections between items influenced by actualisation of subjective features as essentials in the process of generalisation in both groups of patients and mentally healthy respondents. In a group of patients suffering from paranoid schizophrenia generalisation errors are caused by the deficit of specific, socially important, typical internal context while objective social typical context remains mostly the same. Patients have difficulty processing negative emotional context when making generalisations. This difficulty creates affective disorganisation and purposeless answers. 

Abstract: In this article the authors discuss whether it is possible to apply the concepts of context processing and context effect for the purposes of studying specific features of the generalization process in the norm and in case of mental pathology. The article introduces the authors' earlier studies that demonstrated the dependence of the actualization of the significant feature in the process of object generalization on the conditions of the cognitive task, i.e. the context of generalization. The article deals with the study of mechanisms of impairmen context processing impairments in case of internally generated mental disorders (especially schizophrenia and schizotypal and affective disorders) and borderline disorders (personality disorders and neurotic disorders). Particular attention is paid to the mechanisms of impairment of temporary, conceptual and episodic memory, relation the ability for social cognition and cognitive functioning in both foreign and domestic researches. Using the method of theoretical and methodological analysis, the authors propose the general theoretical hypothesis of differentiated mechanisms of generalization process impairments for endogenous and borderline mental disorders and prove experimental methods of its verification. The authors suggest that the actualization of latent features including subjective features in the process of generalization of stimulus uncertainty (semantic distance of generalized objects) demonstrated by patients with schizophrenia is determined by the deficit of the social context processing, and in case of patients with borderline mental disorders, on the contrary, it is determined by excessive social labeling. The authors dscribe the methodology of experimental tasks of the pilot research offered in the adopted 'Find the odd one out' inventory. The methodology includes three series of tasks offering the variety of the semantic distance of objects, their emotional richness and adequacy of the social context of the use of objects. The article also presents expected results of the research by the original method that will open up new prospects in the differential diagnosis of patopsychology and psychiatry.