Behavioral overinclusion as a prognostic index in schizophrenic disorders.

Studied the relationship between behavioral overinclusion (number of objects sorted on the Object Sorting Test) at the acute stage and posthospital adjustment. Results for 79 psychiatric inpatients show that (a) schizophrenics did not differ significantly from nonschizophrenics on behavioral overinclusion during the acute or posthospital phases, (b) correlations between behavioral overinclusion at the acute vs posthospital phases were significant for all diagnostic groups, and (c) correlations between behavioral overinclusion at the acute stage and posthospital adjustment were nonsignificant. Data indicate equivocal results on hypotheses about the prognostic utility of behavioral overinclusion, suggest that behavioral overinclusion is not primarily a function of the acute stage, and question the use of behavioral overinclusion as an important index of schizophrenic thought disorders. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Boundary disturbances in schizophrenia.

Studied 4 types of index associated with the concept of "boundary" with 171 psychiatric inpatients who were tested with the Rorschach and independently assessed on other aspects of psychopathology (e.g., measures of depersonalization, stimulus overinclusion, and derealization). Contaminations and fabulized combinations were correlated with indices of pathology from Rorschach and with other psychopathology measures. Penetration scores were related to some indices of psychopathology, while barrier scores were unrelated to pathology. Contaminations were more frequent in schizophrenics than in any other diagnostic group. Fabulized combinations were more frequent among schizophrenics and latent schizophrenics than in depressives. Penetration responses were less frequent in depressives than in any other group. Support was found for the hypothesis that schizophrenics give certain types of responses considered indicative of boundary disturbance such as contamination responses. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dichotic stimulation as a method of assessing disorder of attention in overinclusive schizophrenic patients.

Gave matched groups of 12 clinically overinclusive schizophrenics, 12 nonoverinclusive schizophrenics, and 12 normals Payne and Friedlander's standard battery of tests of overinclusive thinking. They also took part in 2 experiments in which they repeated verbal material presented through 1 earphone, while distracted through the other. Tests of overinclusive thinking intercorrelated significantly, as did the perceptual overinclusion scores derived from the amount of distracting material repeated. Overinclusive thinking did not correlate significantly with overinclusive perception, contrary to the hypothesis that both are due to some defective central filtering mechanism. Measures of both sorts of overinclusion discriminated significantly between the 2 schizophrenic groups, probably because the clinical definition of overinclusion included both thinking and perceptual distractibility. (29 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intrusion of schizophrenics' idiosyncratic associations into their conceptual performance.

Instructed 19 schizophrenic and 7 nonschizophrenic inpatients to give 10 associations which were "names of things" to each of 3 stimulus words which were category names (e.g., fruit). After approximately 2 wk. without medications, Ss performed a concept identification task which involved signaling whether or not names of specific items belonged to a given category. Names to be identified included instances of the category (e.g., apple), similar things (e.g., carrot), and dissimilar things (e.g., football). Also included were idiosyncratic associations given by S to the category word and idiosyncratic associations given by a different S. Schizophrenics produced significantly more idiosyncratic associations than nonschizophrenics on the initial association test. On the conceptual task, schizophrenics significantly more often identified their own idiosyncratic associations to the category names as instances of the category than they did for idiosyncratic associations from another patient. It is suggested that at least some idiosyncratic intrusions in the conceptual performance of schizophrenics consist of preexisting associations, as predicted by response interference theories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-editing deficits in schizophrenia: A word-association analogue.

Made contrasting predictions to differentiate a 1- from a 2-stage model of word-association performance in schizophrenia. 24 schizophrenics and 24 normals provided word associations in response to (a) "free" vs. "idiosyncratic" instructions, and (b) stimulus words that typically elicit either a strong dominant or several weak associations. Results confirm the 2-stage model: under idiosyncratic instructions, schizophrenics produced more common associations than normals. Findings were consistent with 2 assumptions pertinent to the 2-stage model: schizophrenics (a) sample from an underlying repertoire of nondeviant associations; and (b) are deficient in the ability to edit out sampled but situationally inappropriate associations, whether common or unusual. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Overinclusion and self-editing in schizophrenia.

Gave 2 Epstein-type overinclusion tasks and 2 Password-type editing tasks to 80 schizophrenics (age range 17-49 yrs) and 20 normal controls (age range 22-42 yrs). For each of the 2 types of test, 1 test was in a free-response format and the other was in a choice format. Test format was not an important variable in accounting for group differences. Schizophrenics rated as severely disordered and delusional showed a nonspecific deficit on all 4 tests. Less disordered and nondelusional Ss performed in the normal range on both overinclusion tests but showed a deficit on both editing tasks. Results suggest that although overinclusion is a correlate of degree of pathology, role-taking deficit is a correlate of the schizophrenia-nonschizophrenia dichotomy. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two measures of overinclusive thinking in schizophrenia: A comparative analysis.

Compared the performance of 30 chronic schizophrenics and 30 patients with personality disorders on 2 measures of overinclusion. Consistent with previous research, schizophrenic Ss showed more overinclusion than nonschizophrenic Ss on an R. W. Payne-type test, and were more overinclusive on a Payne-type test than on an L. J. Chapman-type test. Results are interpreted within the framework of W. E. Broen and L. H. Storm's theory of partial collapse of response hierarchies in schizophrenia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thought disorder in adolescent-onset schizophrenia

The nature of the thinking disturbances found in adolescent-onset psychotic conditions is not as well-characterized as the thought disorders found in adult psychotic patients. We used the Thought Disorder Index to examine whether schizophrenic patients in whom psychotic symptoms appear in adolescence show the same characteristic features of thought disorder as do adult schizophrenics. Quantitative and qualitative features of thought disorder were assessed in psychiatric inpatients with adolescent-onset schizophrenia, psychotic depression, and nonpsychotic conditions compared with normal control adolescents. Elevated thought disorder occurred in all groups of adolescents hospitalized for an acute episode of psychiatric illness. The magnitude of the elevation and the frequency of occurrence of disordered thinking were greatest in the psychotic adolescents. The qualitative features of the thought disturbances found in the schizophrenic adolescents were distinct from those observed in adolescents with psychotic depression. The thinking of the schizophrenic adolescents resembled that of adult schizophrenics. In both conditions thought disorder is characterized by idiosyncratic word usage, illogical reasoning, perceptual confusion, loss of realistic attunement to the task, and loosely related ideas.     

Are there two kinds of thinking in process and reactive schizophrenics?

Presents a tentative formulation suggesting qualitative differences between process and reactive schizophrenics. The cognitive deficit of reactive schizophrenics is due to fragmentation of relatively normal thinking under stress or during acute disturbance (i.e., on admission). The fragmentation is suggested to result from interference due to excessive responsiveness to external stimuli and task demands. The process schizophrenics are viewed as idiosyncratic (underdeveloped) in thinking, with their performance hampered by emotional withdrawal and disruption from internal stimuli. Interactions of the process-reactive dimension with stress conditions and institutionalization are inferred, since reactives' performance should vary with stress and time since admission, while processes' performance should remain consistently low. Results of 11 studies from the context of the position are presented. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recall and recognition free learning in schizophrenics.

Administered recall and recognition learning tasks to 30 schizophrenic and 30 nonschizophrenic psychiatric inpatients. The schizophrenics were inferior to the nonschizophrenics in the number of correct items reproduced on the recall tests, but the 2 groups did not differ significantly in the number of correct items identified on the recognition tests. The schizophrenics made more intrusion errors on both the tests of recall and recognition. Compared to the nonschizophrenics, the schizophrenics' intrusion errors were more marked on the recall than on the recognition tests: the Groups * Tasks interaction was significant. Results are related to a theory of overinclusion in schizophrenia, developed to account for schizophrenic deficits in a communication task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Overinclusive thinking in process and reactive schizophrenics: Erratum.

Reports an error in the original article by Thomas S. Eliseo (Journal of Consulting Psychology, 27[5] 1963, 447-449). The quotation from column one, paragraph two on page 448, "the median, 25... higher" should read as follows, "the median, 25, was selected as the separation point for Re (scores of 24 or less) and Pr (scores of 26 or higher)." (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1964-04599-001.) Previous research has indicated that schizophrenics show more overinclusive thinking (i.e., failure to exclude behavior unrelated to a task) than do "normals." 17 reactive schizophrenics, 29 process schizophrenics, and 21 chronic general medical-surgical patients, equivalent in vocabulary knowledge and education, were compared on the Epstein Inclusion Test. Contrary to the prediction that the process schizophrenics would commit more errors, no significant differences were found between the groups. It is possible that overinclusion is a characteristic of depression or chronic illness in general, rather than specific to the schizophrenic disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A reinterpretation of some pathological disturbances in conceptual breadth.

"The present study was designed to investigate the possibility that both overinclusion and overexclusion errors on conceptual sorting tasks by schizophrenics are attributable, at least in part, to a tendency to use concepts of a specific preferred breadth regardless of their appropriateness. This suggestion was investigated by means of a task in which names of objects were sorted on the basis of conceptual categories of varying breadth. The hypothesis was that as the instructed conceptual category becomes broader, schizophrenics increase their errors of overexclusion but decrease their errors of overinclusion. The hypothesis was confirmed. In addition… brain damaged… [Ss] showed the opposite error preference." From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4JQ14C. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Irrelevance of retention interval length and distractor-task similarity to schizophrenic cognitive interference.

Administered to 25 process and 25 reactive schizophrenics and to 25 normals the Digit Span Test under immediate-response, 15-sec delayed-response, and 30-sec delayed-response conditions. All Ss were male patients at a Veterans Administration hospital. Silence, music, letters of the alphabet, and additional digits were presented as distractors during the delay periods. Results show a main effect for the length of the delay period. In immediate-response conditions, there was no significant difference between groups in digit span performance. In delayed-response conditions, the process schizophrenic group showed a deficit under the silence and music distraction manipulations. A main effect for distractors was also found, indicating a decrement among all groups in performance under the letters and digits conditions. If interference effects occurred, they affected only the process schizophrenics and may possibly have been based on idiosyncratic, internally based associations. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Iconic imagery in overinclusive and nonoverinclusive schizophrenics.

R. A. Knight et al (1977) found a significant relation among schizophrenics between good picture-recognition memory and R. W. Payne's index of overinclusion as measured by the Object Classification Test (OCT). The present experiment addressed the problem of what specific stages in information processing might be involved in the differences among schizophrenics in visual memory. It investigated iconic imagery in schizophrenia, using a modification of G. Sperling's paradigm with 41 males in a psychiatric ward of VA Hospital. Ss were divided into 3 groups of schizophrenics (overinclusives, middle inclusives, and underinclusives) and a nonpsychotic control group on the basis of their OCT responses. Results show that the overinclusive schizophrenics and nonpsychotics had an adequate iconic store—they performed better in partial report than in full report, and information in the partial report decayed rapidly. The middle-inclusive and underinclusive schizophrenics, however, were significantly inferior in using this first visual process—their partial-report information decay was found. Findings are discussed in relation to the several theories of schizophrenics' cognitive deficit. (1? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Commonality and stability of word association responses in good and poor premorbid schizophrenics.

The validity of the commonality of response construct and stability of associations over time were investigated in 18 good premorbid schizophrenics (GPS), 18 poor premorbids (PPS), and 18 tuberculosis control Ss (TB). The Kent-Rosanoff Word Association Test was administered on 2 occasions separated by 48 hrs. Results showed TB = GPS > PPS on both commonality of association and stability of responses. This finding suggests the inadequacy of the notion of a universal deficiency in schizophrenic associational processes. Differences were also found between the cultural response style (C) and the idiosyncratic response style (I) on stability, with TBI = GPSI > PPSI and TBC = GPSC > PPSC. Regardless of presence or absence of psychopathology, C was greater than I on the stability measure. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychophysiological reactions to films by chronic schizophrenics: II. Individual differences in resting levels and reactivity.

Resting skin-resistance, heart-rate, and reactivity data to 1 of 2 tension-arousing films were obtained from 2 normal comparison groups and a sample of drug-free chronic schizophrenics. The schizophrenics were subdivided into 3 subsamples on the basis of the number of deviant associations given to a word-association test. The resting skin-resistance data failed to discriminate between normals and schizophrenics; however, meaningful differences were found among the schizophrenic subsamples such that increasing thought disturbance was associated with increasing basal resistance levels. Basal heart-rate data did indicate faster heart rate for all schizophrenic subsamples compared with both normal groups. Reactivity data also indicated different results for the 2 indexes. Skin-resistance indexes failed to indicate any differences between schizophrenics and normals or among the schizophrenic samples. 1 heart-rate index suggested less reactivity for schizophrenics than for normals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparisons of the restricted association of chronic schizophrenic and normal control subjects.

Obtained 11 types of restricted associations and free associations from 24 chronic schizophrenics and 24 normal controls equated for age and education. The associations of schizophrenics were more variable than those of normal Ss, especially on tasks which most restricted the choice of responses. Agreement in responding between normal and schizophrenic Ss was markedly lower when compared with that between high- and low-creative Ss, or with 1-yr, test-retest data. Repetition of responses given to the same stimuli under different instructions was markedly higher for schizophrenic than normal Ss, and thus the degree of task and response differentiation was reduced. The restricted associations overlapped with free associations more markedly for schizophrenic than for normal Ss, but the general structure of a conceptual semantic space was about the same for both groups. It is argued that when explicit constraint in tasks of verbal associations is high, schizophrenic Ss, more than normals, impose a low degree of implicit constraint on their verbal behavior; when the external constraint is low, they increase their implicit constraint. (26 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal paired-associates learning in chronic schizophrenics as a function of positive and negative evaluation.

Seventy-two chronic schizophrenics (36 regressed and 36 partially remitted) and 36 normals were given paired associates of 2 levels of association strength and 2 levels of intralist response competition to learn under positive, negative, and nonevaluation conditions. Regressed schizophrenics showed maximum decrement on low-association word pairs following positive evaluation. This was especially true for those Ss with low self-esteem. These findings suggest that heightened arousal resulting from dissonance between a negative self-image and positive evaluation of performance can lead to behavioral decrement in a difficult task requiring novel associations, such decrement being congruent with the Hull-Spence behavior theory and the Yerkes-Dodson hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Young adult schizophrenics: Prediction of outcome and antecedent childhood factors.

Followed a young adult sample of 45 male acute schizophrenics through record sources into middle age. Antecedent childhood information was also obtained. Thus, information was available for all Ss at the following 3 mean age levels: 10.9 yrs, 21.7 yrs, and 43.7 yrs. Three aspects of schizophrenia (psychotic thinking, affectivity, and social competence) were assessed in terms of long-term stability and prediction of outcome criteria. Measures of psychotic thinking were found to lack both stability and predictive validity. In contrast, a combined measure of affectivity and social competence was stable over time and was significantly related to eventual outcome. Childhood factors were also related to adult outcome variables. Implications for research definitions of schizophrenia are discussed. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attention in schizophrenia: An analysis of selectivity in the functional visual field.

Presents a visual–spatial approach to the study of attention dysfunction. The hypotheses of broadened and narrowed attention were tested by comparing peripheral visual discrimination of 10 acute schizophrenic and 11 chronic schizophrenic inpatients and 16 normal Ss (hospital staff) within 2 regions of the functional visual field. Pairs of visual stimuli were presented at 4 display angles. Measures of response accuracy, response latency, and latency of eye movement of peripheral stimuli were obtained. Results indicate that acute schizophrenics generally discriminated peripheral signals more accurately than chronic schizophrenics or normals. Normals discriminated signals more accurately than chronic schizophrenics. Results suggest the differential use of selective strategies. Limitations in the use of peripheral information among chronic schizophrenics implies a reduction in the amount of information transmitted in a selective act and a reduction in the economy of selective activities. In contrast to normals, acute schizophrenics utilized more efficient selective strategies over a greater spatial area, implying greater transmission of information within discrete selective acts. Results also indicate that schizophrenics initiated eye movements earlier than normals and that response latency was greater for acute schizophrenics than for normals. Results are interpreted as providing partial support for P. H. Venable's (1964) theory of input dysfunction. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)