Left hemisphere dysfunction and left hemisphere overactivation in schizophrenia.

Reports 2 experiments relating schizophrenia to functional brain asymmetry. In Exp I, 24 schizophrenics (mean age, 30.8 yrs) were compared to 24 matched controls (mean age, 37.3 yrs) on 2 tachistoscopic tasks (Syllable Test and Dot Location Test) designed to measure verbal and spatial information processing in the 2 hemispheres. Unlike the controls, the schizophrenics showed a right hemisphere superiority both on the verbal and on the spatial tests, indicating left hemisphere dysfunction in the initial processing of verbal information. In Exp II, lateral eye movements, as an index of contralateral hemispheric activation, were measured in a group of 24 paranoid schizophrenics (mean age, 28.9 yrs), 24 nonparanoid schizophrenics (mean age, 32.7 yrs), and 24 matched controls (mean age, 31.2 yrs). The eye movements were elicited by presenting the Ss with verbal neutral, verbal emotional, spatial neutral, and spatial emotional questions. The schizophrenics had significantly more rightward eye movement, compared to controls, regardless of question type, indicating left hemisphere overactivation. Results suggest that schizophrenia is associated with a pattern consisting of both left hemisphere dysfunction and overactivation. (63 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Proverb word counts as a measure of overinclusiveness in delusional schizophrenics.

A partial replication was conducted of Payne's (1964) report concerning the relationship between delusions and overinclusive thinking as measured by proverbs word counts. Word counts were made of Gorham Proverbs Test responses given by age and intelligence-matched groups of 21 delusional schizophrenics, 21 nondelusional schizophrenics, and 21 nonschizophrenic, nondelusional psychiatric in-patients. 23 paranoid, 23 nonparanoid, and 23 nonschizophrenic control Ss, similarly matched, from the same population, were also compared. No significant differences in proverb word counts were found among the groups. Although the possibility of increased irrelevant side remarks could not be excluded, paranoid or delusional schizophrenics do not produce higher proverb relevant word counts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Representational boundaries in role portrayals among paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenic patients.

Studied the boundary properties of self and other representations in 31 normal Ss (mean age 18.8 yrs) and in 18 paranoid (mean age 21.2 yrs), 14 intermediate (mean age 21.9 yrs), and 16 nonparanoid (mean age 22.1 yrs) inpatient schizophrenics, using a dramatic role-playing technique. Role test and Rorschach responses were scored for presence of fluid and rigid boundaries between representations of human characters. Paranoid schizophrenics evidenced higher levels of rigid boundaries, nonparanoid schizophrenics had higher levels of fluid boundaries, and normal Ss showed fewer fluid or rigid boundaries. Rorschach and role test measures of boundary disruption were significantly correlated with each other and with other measures of psychopathology. Findings suggest that the relative balance between fluid and rigid representational boundaries is an effective discriminator of paranoid and nonparanoid subtypes and that the presence of either type of boundary imagery discriminates schizophrenics from normal Ss. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physical anhedonia and schizophrenia.

Assessed the relation of anhedonia to schizophrenia using 69 schizophrenics and 54 psychiatric control outpatients from 3 mental health centers. In addition to indexes of schizophrenia, each S was given the Physical Anhedonia Scale, a measure of premorbidity, and a vocabulary test. Measures of chronicity and education were also included. ANOVAs indicated no significant differences in anhedonia among 4 diagnostic groups: paranoid schizophrenics, nonparanoid schizophrenics, unipolar affective psychiatric control Ss, and other psychiatric control Ss. Intercorrelations showed that anhedonia was negatively related to premorbid social status, years of education and vocabulary, but it was not significantly related to hospitalization. Data do not support the hypothesis that anhedonia is a consistent sign of schizophrenia but are compatible with the notion that anhedonia is the consequence of such liabilities as psychiatric disturbance, poor premorbid status, low educational level, and low verbal ability. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Schizophrenia and the scanning cognitive control: A reevaluation.

In recent studies it has been inferred from performance on perceptual tasks, that paranoid schizophrenics showed extensive scanning and nonparanoid schizophrenics showed minimal scanning. Eye movements during free-search and size-judgment tasks were recorded for 14 paranoid and 14 nonparanoid schizophrenics, 14 psychotic depressives, and 14 control Ss. Medicated Ss showed lower eyemovement rate and fixation rate than nonmedicated Ss and controls, but there were no significant differences due to schizophrenia. There was a significant interaction between patient type and medication for size-judgment means, but all such differences were reduced to nonsignificance by training. Even after training, Ss showed greater variability in size judgments than controls. Results failed to support the notion of extensive or minimal scanning behavior of schizophrenics. Errors by the psychotic patients in making size judgments were not correlated with scanning behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Schizophrenic memory-search performance involving nonverbal stimulus properties.

Investigated schizophrenic memory-search performance by conducting a memory-search choice-reaction-time (CRT) task involving nonverbal stimulus properties (real-life sizes of items). Procedures were designed to diminish ambiguities concerning previous evidence of possible schizophrenic impairment in scanning and comparison operations involving memory-held items. Ss (aged 18–60 yrs) were 20 paranoid and 20 nonparanoid schizophrenics, 20 psychiatric controls, and 20 normal Ss. Results indicate that scanning and comparison operations proceeded at comparable rates among the schizophrenics and controls. On the other hand, rates of encoding the presented stimulation for a given trial (the trial's probe item) into a task-facilitative format proceeded at a slower rate among the paranoid Ss in particular. Discussion focuses on specific memory-search CRT paradigmatic conditions in which intact speed of memorial item comparisons tended to be most evident among these patients. Results resemble earlier observations of the present 2nd author (see record 1978-31872-001) on memory-search CRT performance among paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenics when probe stimulation has remained in view throughout each trial. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress responses and coping propensity among paranoid and nonparanoid, episodic, and remitted schizophrenics.

28 remitted and 28 episodic paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenics performed a "coping task" consisting of a simple tapping response purported to affect the duration of stressing loud sounds. Cognitive appraisals of the effectiveness of the available response, and task-performance measures of propensity (vis-à-vis reticence) to engage in the response were monitored. Results indicate both paranoid and nonparanoid Ss appraised the available coping response as being less effective than did controls; behavioral measures indicated generally lower propensity to cope among the nonparanoid Ss; the paranoid Ss were similar to controls on selected coping-propensity measures. These differences remained constant across episodic and remitted stages of illness. Psychophysiological evidence of stress arousal (heart-rate acceleration) indicated elevated responsivity specifically among the episodic patients. Results were discussed in terms of current formulations concerning vulnerability to schizophrenic episodes and efforts to cope with environmental stressors. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Broadening dual modality cue utilization in chronic nonparanoid schizophrenics.

Recent evidence suggests that chronic nonparanoid schizophrenics show a narrowed range of cue utilization, especially when cues from more than 1 sensory modality are task relevant. In the present study with 20 male nonparanoid schizophrenic inpatients, it was hypothesized that this deficit can be ameliorated. All Ss were given premeasures of narrowed cue utilization on 2 dual modality tasks. Experimental Ss were then given contingent reinforcement and feedback on 2 tasks, while controls received nonreinforced practice on 1 task and no practice on the other. The major hypothesis was supported; experimental Ss improved (i.e., broadened) significantly more than controls on both tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attention-related effects on somatosensory evoked potentials in college students at high risk for psychopathology.

Determined whether a deviation from normal amplitude in the evoked potential in response to attention directed to a stimulus would occur in 10 undergraduates with high scores on a measure of physical anhedonia (AN) and 9 undergraduates with a high score on a measure of perceptual aberration (PA). Ss were compared with 10 control undergraduates and 7 schizophrenics (mean age 25.6 yrs). Previous studies have shown low amplitudes for schizophrenics. Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) were recorded from 5 scalp locations while Ss counted stimuli to 1 of 4 randomly stimulated fingers; SEPs to counted stimuli contained the attention-related late positive wave (P400). P400 amplitudes of AN Ss were lower than those of normal controls, whereas P400 amplitudes of PA Ss and their matched controls did not differ. P400 amplitudes of AN Ss did not differ significantly from those of schizophrenics, although AN means were somewhat higher. P400 amplitude may provide information that is different from the associated behavioral response and a more sensitive indication of central mechanism dysfunction. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Speed of perceptual functioning in chronic nonparanoid schizophrenics: Partial replication and extension.

Results of a partial replication of a study by A. J. Yates and P. Korboot (see record 1971-06730-001), with 3 groups of 10 chronic nonparanoid schizophrenics, paranoid schizophrenics, and psychotic depressives as Ss, confirm the finding of the extreme slowness of functioning in chronic nonparanoid schizophrenics. The finding was extended by showing that this group was also significantly slower than chronic psychotic depressives when inspection time was measured uncontaminated by verbal response time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship of age and education to Halstead test performance in different patient populations

Examined the effects of age and education on Halstead Neuropsychological Test Battery performance in a cross-validation of the A. Vega and O. A. Parsons's study (see record 1968-01419-001). Ss in the present study were 32 male and 3 female brain-damaged patients (mean age, 34.6 yrs) and 18 male and 7 female non-brain-damaged medical-surgical and psychiatric controls (mean age, 33.2 yrs). Age was significantly correlated with performance on the Category Test, Tactual Performance Test Time, Memory, Location, and the Impairment Index but not with Speech, Rhythm, or Tapping in brain-damaged patients. In medical-surgical and psychiatric patients, however, age was significantly correlated with all Halstead test performances. Education was not significantly correlated with performance in brain-damaged or psychiatric patients but was correlated with 6 Halstead tests in the medical-surgical group. Differences between correlation in psychiatric patients and medical-surgical control Ss are discussed. The importance of taking age into consideration as well as differences in various "control" or reference groups when making clinical inferences about the presence of brain dysfunction is stressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal abstracting ability and schizophrenia.

The Benjamin Proverbs Test was administered to 3 groups of 40 Ss each: reactive schizophrenics, process schizophrenics, and normal control Ss. Patients were rated for prognosis using the Premorbid subscale of the Phillips Prognostic Rating Scale. Ss were matched for education, vocabulary, age, and socioeconomic status of father. Proverbs were scored by 3 judges working independently. Highly significant differences were found among the 3 groups in ability to interpret proverbs. Process schizophrenics showed the greatest degree of impairment; reactive schizophrenics showed significant impairment, as compared to normal controls, but significantly less impairment than did process schizophrenics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Defective interhemispheric transfer in schizophrenia.

Groups of schizophrenics, nurses, and psychiatric controls were trained to perform a manual shape discrimination task. The 20 schizophrenics included 17 outpatients and 3 short-term inpatients: 10 males (mean age 36 yrs) and 10 females (mean age 37.6 yrs). Nurse control Ss were 10 male (mean age 26.3 yrs) and 10 female (mean age 22 yrs) psychiatric nurses or student nurses. Psychiatric control Ss were 8 males (mean age 36.1 yrs) and 10 females (mean age 32.6 yrs). On both of the tasks included in the experiment, the schizophrenic group, but not the control groups, displayed defective intermanual transfer. The performances of the schizophrenics resembled those previously obtained with split-brain monkeys on similar tasks; therefore, it is concluded that the schizophrenics tested suffered from incomplete transfer of stereognostic shape information from 1 cerebral hemisphere to the other. Experiments suggesting poor interhemispheric transfer on auditory tasks in schizophrenics are discussed along with the possibility that certain schizophrenic symptoms are related to defective interhemispheric communication. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive appraisal of stress and schizophrenic subtype.

Studied differences in patterns of cognitive appraisal and response to stress in a total of 19 male nonparanoid process schizophrenics and paranoid reactive schizophrenics. Paranoids evidenced greater heart-rate response to stress stimuli while rating the stress categories as less disturbing than did nonparanoid Ss. Comparison of autonomic measures and verbal ratings of the slides indicated that paranoids underrated their autonomic response to stress stimuli while nonparanoid Ss overrated it. Results suppport the clinical literature on defensive styles of the 2 groups. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Creativity, masculinity, femininity, and three models of psychological androgyny.

Five empirically derived indices of creative self-concept correlated positively with several indices of psychological masculinity in 85 female and 105 male undergraduates and somewhat negatively with indices of psychological femininity among males and females. Among the measures used were the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and Adjective Check List. Production on the Alternate Uses Test correlated positively with masculinity and negatively with femininity in a subset of 50 males explicitly instructed to "be creative." As a reflection of this positive association between masculinity and creativity indices, Ss defined as masculine or androgynous, using conventional median-split methods, obtained significantly higher creativity indices than conventionally defined feminine or unclassifiable Ss. Results are discussed in terms of (a) the applicability of balance, additive, and multiplicative models of androgyny to the study of creativity; (b) the factorial complexity of several currently used masculinity and femininity scales; and (c) possible conflicts between sex-role expectations and the self-concepts of creative females and apparent congruencies between sex-role expectations and the self-concepts of creative males. (85 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Number and position of visual stimuli as determinants of reaction time in schizophrenia.

Notes that RT in normal Ss has been shown to be linearly related to stimulus complexity, defined as the log of the number of equally probable stimuli to which a response may be made. Data from an earlier study of 40 short- and long-term paranoid and nonparanoid male schizophrenics and 10 male hospital employees were reanalyzed and compared with P. Venable's (see record 1959-10789-001) study of schizophrenic deficit. Although experimental procedures were dissimilar, both studies found that increased complexity did not result in schizophrenics having steeper regression slopes than normal Ss. Consideration of the position of the critical stimulus, however, clearly indicated that long-term, nonparanoid schizophrenics narrow attention to central cues when confronted by an increase in complexity. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Size estimation, perceptual recognition, and cardiac rate response in acute paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenics.

Studied perceptual response styles of 8 paranoid and 8 nonparanoid schizophrenics in a VA hospital using size estimation and perceptual recognition tasks. Eight alcoholic patients were used as controls. Only acute, actively psychotic, unmedicated schizophrenics were included. Heart rate responses were monitored during the performance of the tasks. Psychological task performance and concomitant physiological responses were analyzed and integrated. The size estimation results replicate earlier findings. During the perceptual recognition task, the paranoid Ss showed a unique "jump to conclusions" response strategy. Early responding and response rigidity was not found to be specific to paranoid schizophrenics. All schizophrenic Ss showed more large-magnitude heart rate response during both tasks. The relationship between perceptual responses and physiological responses differed among the groups. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Residual performance deficit in clinically remitted schizophrenics: A marker of schizophrenia?

The study of remitted schizophrenic outpatients is proposed as a way of minimizing the effects of the "nuisance variables" that confound the study of hospitalized schizophrenics. 20 hospitalized acutely disturbed schizophrenics (mean age, 37.0 yrs), 20 schizophrenic outpatients in clinical remission (mean age, 42.8 yrs) and 20 normal controls (mean age, 35.1 yrs) were administered a span of apprehension test and the Continuous Performance Test (CPT). All Ss were controlled for sex and WAIS scores and schizophrenics were rated with Phillips Prognostic Rating Scale. On the CPT, both acute and remitted schizophrenics made significantly more errors of omission and commission than did the normal controls. On the span of apprehension, both groups of schizophrenics showed a significantly greater decrement in accuracy of detection of the target stimuli than did normal controls. The same pattern of results has been observed in children at risk for schizophrenia, which suggests that the span of apprehension may be sensitive to core schizophrenic processes that are independent of clinical state. The cross-sectional study of the 3 stages of schizophrenia—the premorbid, acute, and remitted—is proposed as a way of identifying "core" schizophrenic processes and markers of vulnerability to schizophrenia. The adequacy of a general "attentional impairment" interpretation of schizophrenic deficit is questioned. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of competing and complex responses on the reaction time of acute psychiatric groups.

Compared 8 acute nonparanoid schizophrenics to 12 depressed and 29 nonpsychotic psychiatric controls (age range = 18-41 yrs) to determine if schizophrenic deficit on 4 auditory reaction time tasks was a function of slower rate of processing information. The tasks varied along the dimensions of complexity (simple vs 2-choice) and competition (low vs high). It was hypothesized that slower processing rate implied slower reaction time on the simple tasks and greater slowing down on the complex tasks. Some Ss in each group were tested 2 times to determine the relative stability of the deficit. Essentially, for both testing sessions schizophrenics were slower than both control groups on all 4 tasks. However, they slowed down more than the nonpsychotic group only on the complex task with high competition. The depressed group, which performed like the nonpsychotic group on the 3 other tasks, also slowed down more than the nonpsychotic group on this task, but only on the 1st testing session. It is concluded that schizophrenic deficit was stable and did not arise primarily from slower rate of processing data, although interference might have augmented it. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)