Sentence perception and distractibility in schizophrenic, manic, and depressed patients.

Previous research with schizophrenics suggested that distraction may have its primary effect on controlled information processing. To explore this hypothesis, 8 schizophrenics, 8 manics, 8 depressives, and 8 normal Ss (all Ss were aged 18–45 yrs) were asked to shadow short stories in both the presence and absence of a competing message and to answer questions afterward about the content of the shadowed message. The shadowing performance of all 3 patient groups was equivalent to that of normal Ss and was not affected by distraction. Shadowing errors of commission indicated that schizophrenics did use semantic and syntactic information to anticipate words in the relevant message, but the schizophrenics also inserted more semantically irrelevant words than any of the other 3 groups. Distraction did interfere with the schizophrenics' ability to recall the content of relevant passages, but not with the performance of the other 3 groups. Data indicate that distraction may have a specific rather than general influence on controlled information processing or that distraction may reduce schizophrenics' overall capacity to handle information in short-term memory. The analysis of shadowing errors suggested that performance on such laboratory tasks may be closely related to the verbal communication problems encountered by many schizophrenic patients, but also that these symptoms may not be a simple function of selective attention difficulties. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A prediction of patterns of schizophrenic error resulting from semantic generalization.

Conducted a study with 2 groups of 26 male schizophrenics and normal psychiatric aides (mean age = 45 yr) to test predictions derived from a theory of disordered thought by L. J. Chapman, J. P. Chapman, and G. A. Miller (see PA, Vol. 39:10059) concerning the conditions under which schizophrenic Ss exhibit excessive generalization errors. The theory assumes that both the schizophrenic and normal are biased toward responding to words in terms of the words' strongest aspects of meaning, but that schizophrenics are more strongly biased toward this than are normals. Ss were instructed to indicate by pressing buttons marked "yes" and "no" whether or not test words presented in serial fashion on a memory drum had appeared on a previous training list. "Yes" responses to test words not appearing on a previous training list were the measures of generalization errors. The predictions were supported by the finding that schizophrenics made significantly more errors to words on the test list that shared strong meaning responses (p     

Mnemonic organization in young nonpsychotic schizophrenics.

Describes 2 experiments with 18-27 yr old nonpsychotic schizophrenics (n = 32), nonschizophrenic psychiatric patients (n = 112), and nonhospitalized normals (n = 32). In Exp. I, Ss were given repeated free-recall trials of 20 "unrelated" words and of 20 categorized words. The schizophrenics' recall and mnemonic organization, as indexed by measures of subjective organization, categorical clustering, and hierarchical clustering schemes, were both inferior to those of the normals and, to some extent, to those of the nonschizophrenics. While the normals and nonschizophrenics tended to build up higher-order mnemonic units with trials, this trend was weak in the schizophrenics. In Exp. II, nonpsychotic schizophrenics and normals engaged in repeated recognition tasks of 40 words and 40 consonant-vowel-consonant trigrams. The recognition memory of the schizophrenics was the same as that of the normals, in spite of contextual variations of the study and test lists. Results are interpreted on the basis of the 2-process theory of recall as supporting the view that the basic deficit of schizophrenia in mnemonic processing is a difficulty in unitizing the material. (36 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mnemonic organization and free recall in schizophrenia.

Investigated word-storage structure and processes of organization and retrieval in 17 young schizophrenics (mean age 26.5 yrs) and 13 normal Ss (mean age 25.7 yrs). Ss were required to establish a stable organization of 25 unrelated words through repeated, self-paced sortings into self-determined categories. Subsequently, they were asked for free recall of the words. The schizophrenics required significantly more trials to complete the sorting task, but once this was achieved they recalled as many words in equally regular order as the normals did. The groups did not differ in regard to organizational structure in the sortings as assessed by hierarchical structure analysis. It is concluded that a schizophrenic deficit of mnemonic organization is indicated, possibly due to difficulties in maintaining a stable system of categories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An illusion of memory: False recognition influenced by unconscious perception.

The results of two experiments showed that an illusion of memory can be produced by unconscious perception. In a first phase of those experiments, a long list of words was presented for study. For the test of recognition memory given in the second phase of each experiment, presentation of a "context" word preceded that of most recognition test words. Ss were to judge whether or not the test words had been presented during the earlier study phase of the experiment. Effects of a context word on this recognition memory decision were opposite when Ss were aware vs. unaware of its presentation. For example, as compared to a condition in which no context word was presented, the probability of false recognition was increased when Ss were unaware but decreased when Ss were aware of the presentation of a context word that matched the recognition test word. Results are discussed in terms of unconscious influences on an attribution process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sensitivity to syntactic structure: Good versus poor premorbid schizophrenics.

24 16-35 yr old acute schizophrenics with either good or poor premorbid histories were compared with control groups of 24 undergraduates and 12 6th-grade children on their sensitivity to syntactic structure in speech perception. Ss listened to strings of unconnected words, sentences with clicks embedded before, in, or after a clause break, and a passage of connected discourse that was interrupted at specific intervals after either a l- or 2-clause sentence. During designated test pauses they wrote down as many words as they could recall and indicated the location of the click in the sentences. The schizophrenics showed poor overall recall but did not differ from the control groups in the proportion of recall attributable to syntactic structure. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Schizophrenic cognitive deficit as a function of scoring standards.

Describes 3 experiments in which the responses of normal Ss (mostly prison inmates and firefighters) and of schizophrenics to the Stanford Binet Test Vocabulary items, the WAIS Vocabulary items, and the WAIS Similarities items were scored by 2 methods, one relatively strict and the other relatively lenient. Subtests of strictly and leniently scored items from each of the 3 sources were matched for normal Ss on psychometric characteristics that determine power of the test to distinguish the more able from the less able Ss. A greater deficit on the strictly scored than on the leniently scored items was found for chronic schizophrenics on the Stanford-Binet Vocabulary, for newly admitted schizophrenics but not for chronic schizophrenics on the WAIS Vocabulary, and for neither group on the WAIS Similarities. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rotations of visual designs in psychopathological groups.

Stimuli that systematically varied the figural and spatial orientational information of visual designs were administered under 2 conditions to 4 groups of 15 male Ss each. The groups were composed of normal, process and reactive schizophrenic, and brain-damaged Ss (mean ages-26.3, 42.3, 27.6, and 52.9 yrs, respectively). The stimuli were administered in a recall condition requiring reproduction of stimuli from memory and in a required rotation condition necessitating reproduction in a 90. clockwise rotation. Brain-damaged Ss had a greater tendency than other groups to rotate when a mental rotation was required, but they had a greater tendency to make errors indicating the loss of figural information when reproducing from memory. Process schizophrenics performed much like brain-damaged persons in recall but the same as normals in required rotation, suggesting that discrimination of these groups is possible. Normals produced the most rotations in recall, brain-damaged the least, and schizophrenics an intermediate number. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The next-in-line effect: Encoding or retrieval deficit?

The phenomenon that people cannot remember what happens when they are next-in-line to perform was investigated in 2 experiments with 144 undergraduates to determine whether this memory deficit reflects a failure to encode or an inability to retrieve preperformance events. In Exp I, 96 Ss participated in 4 memory trials; in each trial, half the Ss were called on to read words, and the other half merely listened. Before each trial, Ss were told whether they would be readers or listeners and the order in which numbers would be called. Thus, readers could anticipate precisely when they would be called on to perform. After hearing the 28 words in random order, all Ss wrote down the recalled words on cued or noncued sheets. Although the semantic cues strongly facilitated access to memories, they did not moderate the next-in-line effect. In Exp II, Ss were told—either before or after performing—to make a special effort to remember preperformance events. If instructed afterward, Ss displayed the usual memory deficit. If instructed beforehand, they reversed the deficit and showed a superior preperformance recall. It is concluded that the next-in-line effect is a failure at encoding, not at retrieval. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paired-associate learning and priming effects in amnesia: A neuropsychological study.

Conducted 4 experiments investigating the role of priming effects in paired-associate learning. Ss for all 4 experiments were 5 male and 3 female alcoholics (mean age 53.8 yrs; WAIS—R IQs 85–203) with Korsakoff syndrome. Control Ss were 26 male alcoholics (mean age 47.6 yrs). Exp I illustrated the distinction between the memory impairment of amnesic (Korsakoff) Ss and their intact priming ability. In Exp II, amnesic Ss showed good paired-associate learning for related word pairs but controls performed significantly better. Exp II also showed that the forgetting of related word pairs by amnesic Ss followed the same time course as the decay of word priming. Exp III showed that amnesic Ss were as good as controls at learning related word pairs when word-association tests were used. Exp IV showed that amnesic Ss exhibited normal priming when they were asked to free associate to words that were semantically related to previously presented words. Results indicate that both priming effects and paired-associate learning of related words depended on activation, a process that is preserved in amnesia. Activation is a transient phenomenon presumed to operate on and facilitate access to preexisting representations. (67 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attentional capacity dysfunction and arousal in schizophrenia.

Criticizes 2 influential premises underlying most of current research on schizophrenia and attention: (a) belief in the existence of a specific information-processing deficit and (b) acceptance of a framework of "cold cognition." Capacity theory is proposed as an alternative theoretical framework within which the various phenotypically diverse attentional deficits in schizophrenia reflect a deficit in the control function that governs the mobilization and allocation of attention. Attentional deficits, therefore, are most manifest when effortful processing in short-term storage is required. Research on short-term memory processes in schizophrenics shows that the magnitude of the attention deficit correlates positively with the attentional requirements of the cognitive operations involved. The dysfunction is thought to reflect the high levels of arousal characteristic of schizophrenics. Parallels in the performance of schizophrenics and essentially normal but hyperaroused Ss are outlined in support of this hypothesis. The failure to consider the possible mediating effects of hyperarousal in attentional performance of schizophrenics is an omission in the research on schizophrenic cognition. Causality between arousal and information processing is addressed. (101 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between affect and memory: Motivation-based selective generation.

Two experiments examined the influence of anger and retaliatory motivation on memory for negative material. In the 1st study, 60 male undergraduates memorized words with positive, negative, and neutral semantic connotations. It was found that angered men who expected to retaliate against their provocateur recalled more negative words than other words, and more than Ss in all other affect and evaluation conditions. Angered men in the nonretaliation condition displayed no differences in negative word recall. The 2nd experiment investigated memory for details of a provoking experience. Angered men who expected to retaliate more accurately recalled the details of their provocation, but whether they were given information before or after provocation had no bearing on memory for these details. Results are discussed in terms of a motivation-based selective generation hypothesis for the relationship between anger and memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptual memory for numerousness in "nonpsychotic schizophrenics."

Conducted an exploratory study on the assumption that a population of nonpsychotic schizophrenics could be identified by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) 2-7-8 code and that these schizophrenics would exhibit the memory deficiencies associated with a thought disorder. 23 elevated MMPI 2-7-8 code and 23 nonelevated code Ss participated in a delayed paired-comparison task. Ss judged whether the 2nd of a pair of dot patterns consisted of "more" or "less" dots than the 1st, and the signal detectability measure of d' was used to evaluate group differences for mnemonic capacity. Elevated Ss' memory strength was inferior to that of the nonelevated group under the conditions in which stimulus encoding was less favorable for abstracting a durable memory trace. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Encoding and retrieval operations in relation to age.

In 2 experiments, the memory performance of a total of 40 young (mean age 18 yrs) and 40 elderly (mean age 75 yrs) Ss was compared in a procedure that allowed testing of the target words twice, first for recognition and then for cued recall. Conventional analyses of the recall and recognition data gave results that echoed previous findings that (a) significant age differences were found in recall but not in recognition, and (b) the recall differences were minimized when the target items were recalled in the context of cues highly related to the target items. In accordance with contemporary theoretical conceptions of memory, a feasible interpretation of these results is that memory loss is due to a retrieval deficit. However, further analyses showed that both young and older Ss failed to recognize many words that they subsequently recalled, suggesting that some caution is necessary in interpreting overall recall and recognition memory performance. Possible differences in encoding and retrieval processes as a function of age are discussed. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of imagery on perceptual implicit memory tests.

Four experiments demonstrate that imagery can promote priming on perceptual implicit memory tests. When Ss were given words during a study phase and asked to form mental images of corresponding pictures, more priming was obtained on a picture fragment identification test than from a study condition in which Ss performed semantic analyses of words. Imaginal priming of picture fragment identification occurred for recoverable fragments, but not for nonrecoverable fragments. The imagery effect was restricted to the imaged type of material: Imagining pictures (when presented with words) enhanced priming on a picture fragment identification test but not on word fragment completion. Similarly, when pictures were presented, imagining the corresponding words increased priming on word fragment completion but not on picture fragment identification. Overall, results support the hypothesis that imagining engages some of the same mechanisms used in perception and thereby produces priming. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mediation and associative facilitation in neurotic, psychotic, and normal subjects.

The present investigation is a replication of previous work (see 30: 555; 27: 4925) utilizing Veterans Administration medical and psychiatric patients instead of college Ss. The previous findings indicated that associative relationship facilitates verbal learning. Ss learned 2 sets of syllable-word paired associates; ? of the pairs on the 2nd list had response terms which were associates of their responses to words on the 1st list. Although the responses of all Ss showed the effects of associative facilitation, this was more true for nonpsychotics. The results are discussed in terms of understanding the thinking of schizophrenics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of imagery on explicit and implicit tests of memory in young and old people: A double dissociation.

Examined the effect of imagery on implicit and explicit tests of memory in young and old adults. 48 undergraduates (mean age 21 yrs) and 64 adults (mean age 72.48 yrs) in Canada were presented with 2 separate word lists in a random order and were assigned to imagery or no-imagery instruction conditions. Ss in the imagery instruction condition read the words to themselves, formed a mental image of it, and rated their ability to do so. Ss in the no-imagery instruction condition simply read the words. All Ss were tested on explicit or implicit memory tests and asked to describe the mnemonic strategies used. Results show that imaging the referent of a visually-presented word improved the performance of the young Ss on the explicit memory test, but reduced their performance on the implicit test. Results of the elderly Ss showed a similar trend but did not reach the level of significance observed for young adults. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neuropsychological performance and positive and negative symptoms in schizophrenia.

Examined cognitive functions in 11 positive-symptom (mean age 36 yrs), 10 negative-symptom (mean age 33.8 yrs), and 23 mixed-symptom (mean age 31.4 yrs) schizophrenics; 15 bipolar patients (mean age 34.7 yrs); and 12 normal controls (mean age 34.8 yrs) to explore the relation between symptoms and performance. Ss were administered a neuropsychological test battery including the Purdue Pegboard, the Revised Visual Retention Test, and the Block Design subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised (WAIS—R). Group comparisons revealed generalized deficits in schizophrenics. Positive-symptom schizophrenics scored below normal Ss and negative-symptom Ss on 2 measures tapping verbal memory. Multiple regression analyses revealed that negative symptom ratings were inversely associated with performance on visual-motor tasks, whereas positive symptoms were inversely associated with verbal memory performance. Findings are not consistent with the notion that cognitive deficits are uniquely associated with negative symptoms. Instead, results suggest that there may be specific cognitive correlates of both the positive and negative symptom dimensions. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of attention, as indexed by subsequent memory, on electrodermal detection of information.

Three closely related experiments tested the effects of attention, as indexed by subsequent memory, on electrodermal detection of information. A total of 62 male college students attempted to conceal 6 critical items of information from a polygraph examiner recording their electrodermal response (EDR). In the polygraph test the S was asked if any of a list of 24 words, 1 every 10–25 sec, were critical items he was concealing. The list was comprised of 3 semantically similar control words along with each critical word. Afterward, without forewarning, a 2nd experimenter asked the S to remember all the words he had been asked about on the test. Deceptive Ss who gave a larger EDR to critical than to control words more often than could be expected by chance (i.e., were correctly detected as deceptive) remembered more control words than did other deceptive Ss who escaped detection. Results are interpreted to mean that the less thoroughly an S processes the test words, as indexed by later memory, the less likely he is to be detected. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)