Effects of social motivational variables on choice reaction time of schizophrenics.

The effect of 3 kinds of instructions on the reactions times (RT) of schizophrenics was studied. The instruction included nonevaluative and evaluative ("You've done very well" or "You haven't done very well") statements and referred to performance on an apparatus which required S to depress the appropriate key indicating which of two lights had been flashed. The performance of the schizophrenic Ss were compared to that by hospitalized nonpsychiatric patients. In general, the schizophrenic's overall RT was slower than the controls. In both groups, decrease in RT was noted for "failure" instructions, nonevaluative, and "success" in that order. From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3JQ24G. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of prior experimenter-subject relationships on reinforced reaction time of schizophrenics and normals.

The hypothesis was tested that deficits in schizophrenics' responses to positive social reinforcers would be reduced if reinforcers were delivered by an E who had first related to the Ss in a warm and accepting manner. Reaction times of 39 chronic schizophrenics and 39 normal adults were tested without and with reinforcement after exposure to 1 of 3 conditions of contact with E: (a) no contact, (b) contact with an unresponsive and aloof E, and (c) contact with a warm and accepting E. Schizophrenics had slowest reaction times after c. Normals had slowest reaction times after c until reinforced; on reinforced trials there were no differences between conditions for normal Ss. The results indicate that chronic schizophrenics can be motivated to gain approval but that such motivation in schizophrenics is more dependent upon immediate social circumstances than it is in normal adults. (29 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Word meaning and sexual identification in paranoid schizophrenics and anxiety neurotics.

From psychoanalytic theory it is reasoned that the paranoid schizophrenic is one who has not made an adequate identification with the parent of like sex; other theoretical formulations presuppose a lack of identification with either parent. To test which of these hypotheses is valid, Osgood's Semantic Differential was used as a measure of identification (as established by Lazowick, 1955). It was given to a sample of hospitalized paranoid schizophrenics, an outpatient VA mental hygiene clinic sample of anxiety neurotics, and 2 control groups, hopsitalized TB patients and working people. The results indicated that the paranoid schizophrenic showed lack of identification with either parent. To some extent, this was true of the identification pattern of the neurotic group, but the latter also showed confusion of identification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of competition on reaction time and palmar skin conductance.

"Ninety-two Ss were tested on reaction time tasks under normal and competitive conditions. The speed of the simple reaction and of the discriminative reaction increased under the competitive condition… . Under the competitive condition, the level of palmar skin conductance increased and self-rated alertness increased, but these measures were not related to the decrease in reaction time. Thus the speed of performance and some measures of the level of motivation both increased in a competitive situation, but there was no evidence… for a causal relationship between them." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contextual effects on the MMPI.

This study was designed to determine in what ways and to what extent MMPI scores are influenced by the ordering of their items. 12 shortened forms of the MMPI were developed, using 4 different scales (paranoia, social desirability, physical health, and acquiescence) and 3 different patterns of ordering (all items appearing first, being scattered throughout, or appearing last in the test). Ss included 473 college students, 108 neurotics, and 54 paranoid schizophrenics. Each S was administered 2 of the test forms, each of which contained a different ordering schema of the same items, with a 1-week interval between test administrations. Findings indicated no significant contextual effects on any of the scales. (42 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Time and space orientation in schizophrenics.

The spatial and temporal orientation of a group of 50 schizophrenics is compared with a matched group of 50 normal subjects selected from attendants and applicants for attendants at the Austin State Hospital. The results show that: 1. Schizophrenic S's are significantly poorer than normals on all the space and time orientation tests except that for bodily orientation. 2. The items that differentiate the schizophrenic from the normal have in common the absence of a frame of reference in the immediate perceptual field or to require attention to and retention of complex relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between motoric and ideational activity preference and time perspective in neurotics and schizophrenics.

The dichotomous classification of motoric and ideational activity preference types was studied in relation to future and past time perspective in schizophrenic and neurotic groups. Special measures were constructed to classify Ss, to test the stability of the classification, and to measure future and past time perspective. The motoric-ideational activity preference classification was found to be reliable; ideational Ss had a greater extent of future time perspective than did motoric Ss; past time perspective was dependent upon the interaction of types and emotional disturbance grouping; motoric schizophrenics seemed to be more stimulus bound to the relative present; and ideational neurotics had a higher general-interest level than both the total motoric group and the total schizophrenic group. These results support the usefulness of the motoric-ideational classification as an organizing dimension of personality which shows both stability and construct validity. The results also revealed the potential value of studying the interaction of the motoric-ideational activity preference with types of emotional disturbance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Failure and the subsequent performance of schizophrenics.

"The present study investigated the questions of whether deficit would obtain for schizophrenics on a timed task of nonsocial content and, if so, whether the deficit would increase or decrease over trials under a condition of nonreinforcement and, finally, differentially affect the subsequent performance of schizophrenics and normals… . The results indicated that both schizophrenics and normals responded with enhanced performance to the negative conditions, but that only the schizophrenics demonstrated enhanced performance under the positive condition." 15 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reaction time in schizophrenic and normal subjects in relation to the sequence of series of regular preparatory intervals.

Earlier research (Huston et al, 1937) emphasized the inability of schizophrenic Ss, in comparison to normals, to maintain a given set over an extended period of time; this, again, was the focus of the present investigation. Reaction times in 7 schizophrenic and 11 nonschizophrenic Ss were reviewed in the context of situations which required varying amounts of preresponse times. The results confirm the unfavorable effect on the performance of schizophrenic Ss in situations requiring prolonged maintenance of a response set. Results are related to a psychophysical interpretation of schizophrenia. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4JQ61Z. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of high altitude on choice reaction time mean and intra-individual variability: Results of the Edinburgh Altitude Research Expedition of 2008.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effects of high altitude on reaction time (RT) mean and intra-individual variability. Method: Ten students (6 men, 4 women) took a 4-choice RT test and had their vital signs and Lake Louise (LL) score measured on 21 occasions during the Edinburgh Altitude Research Expedition of 2008 to the Western Himalayas (max. altitude 5,565 m). Results: Linear mixed modeling revealed that mean RT was significantly impaired at altitudes above 4,000 m (p B = 1.97, 95% CI [0.70, 3.23], p B = ?1.50, 95% CI [?2.60, ?0.39], p B = ?2.16, 95% CI [?2.49, ?1.83], p B = 0.01801, 95% CI [0.0049, 0.0311], p B = ?0.00754, 95% CI [?0.0119, ?0.0032], p     

Object constancy in schizophrenia: the enhancement of symbolic objects and conceptual stability.

The hypothesis that symbolic value has a greater influence on size judgments made by schizophrenic patients than on those made by controls was confirmed. The hypothesis that paranoid schizophrenics show greater constriction in their judgments of the range of sizes was confirmed; however, the hypothesis that non-paranoid schizophrenics show greater fluidity in their range of judgments than do the controls was not confirmed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Size constancy of adolescent schizophrenics.

In a size-constancy task 10 schizophrenic and 10 normal adolescent males judged variable triangles as smaller, same size, or larger than a standard. The schizophrenics' judgments were further from constancy, and differed qualitatively. They made more (a) same-size judgments, (b) changes of judgments, (c) overestimation of the size of the standard, and (d) improvement with practice. The relative constancy of the same-size judgments of most Ss suggested the effects of personality variables. A significant correlation was found between constancy performance and the Sc score on the MMPI for the experimental group. The direction of error, underconstancy or overconstancy, was determined by the space arrangement of the variable and the standard. Both groups responded similarly to the experimental conditions of distance, series order, and space arrangement. (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stimulus generalization and schizophrenia.

Paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenics, on and off drugs, were compared with medical inpatients for stimulus-generalization responsivity. The stimuli were lines differing in length, and the response alternatives differed in amplitude. There were no significant differences in gradients of stimulus generalization among the groups. This finding opposes Mednick's original anxiety-drive theory of schizophrenia, especially his assumption that schizophrenics overgeneralize. The finding does not oppose Mednick's amended theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vocabulary performance of short-term and long-term schizophrenics.

"The following three measures of vocabulary performance varying in sensitivity were obtained from groups of short-term schizophrenics, long-term schizophrenics, and normals equated for art and education: gesticulation (nonverbal), conventional vocabulary achievement, and level of verbal communication. No differences were found between the short-term schizophrenics and the normals of any of the measures. The long-term schizophrenics were significantly lower than normals and short-term schizophrenics on all of the measures. The decrement on gesticulation for the long-term schizophrenics was significantly less than that for the other measures." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The performance of schizophrenics on social concepts.

"A hypothesis was derived from Cameron's view of schizophrenic thinking as a product of the social disarticulation of this group, as contrasted with Goldstein's interpretation of the defect in schizophrenic thought as the result of an impairment of the abstract attitude. The hypothesis was that schizophrenics would exhibit a greater decrement relative to normals on a test of social concepts than on tests of formal concepts." The data support this hypothesis. 22 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Conceptual level" vs. "conceptual area" analysis of object-sorting behavior of schizophrenic and nonpsychiatric groups.

The Rapaport modification of the Goldstein-Gelb-Weigl Object-Sorting Test is used on a sample of 37 pairs of paranoid schizophrenics and nonpsychiatric patients to determine if schizophrenic thought reflects a marked loss of ability to conceptualize on an abstract level; or, is a disorder of communication. On the basis of the test results, the following conclusions are drawn: "1)… our schizophrenic group demonstrated a loss of social communication without evidence of impairment in abstractive ability. 2) Differences in conceptualization in the object-sorting task were clearly more closely associated with estimated test intelligence and education than with the presence or absence of schizophrenia… ." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Monocular distance perception in schizophrenics.

This study was designed to investigate the possibility of a dysfunction in monocular depth perception in schizophrenics. 50 schizophrenics and 50 normals were asked to align monocularly viewed patterned and unpatterned projected images with each of 5 monocularly viewed, minimally lighted rods. An analysis of variance indicated a difference significant beyond the 1% level in the alignment ability of the 2 groups and stimulus intensification of the images with color increased both groups' alignment ability. A trend analysis indicated a significant increase in the difference between the groups from p     

Responses to cognitive and perceptual ambiguity in chronic and acute schizophrenics.

Responses of 25 acute and 34 chronic schizophrenics to perceptual and cognitive ambiguity were compared with those of 36 normal control Ss by means of: several "decision location" series consisting of blurred photographs presented in the order of increasing clarity; a series of pictures which could be matched, at Ss' discretion, with a number of statements allegedly made by the persons pictured; a series of pictures to be similarly matched with nationality names. The chronic Ss compared to normals offered earlier recognition responses on the perceptual task and matched more items on the cognitive measures. The scores of the acute group, however, yielded uniformly negative results and were found to be intermediate in relation to those of the chronic and normal Ss. (31 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interference transfer paradigms and the performance of schizophrenics and controls.

A group of chronic schizophrenics (n = 18) and a group of control Ss (hospital employees, n = 18) were contrasted on the A-C and A-Br negative transfer paradigms. As expected, both groups yielded negative transfer on both paradigms, with significantly greater negative transfer for A-Br relative to A-C in the schizophrenic group only (p