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     

A test of Chapman's theory of schizophrenic thought disorder.

Tested the validity of L. J. Chapman's (1964) theory of schizophrenic thought disorder. The vocabulary test from the Shipley-Institute of Living Scale for Measuring Intellectual Impairment served as the control task, and the multiple-choice vocabulary test used by T. B. Boland and L. J. Chapman (see record 1972-03368-001) to disclose a schizophrenic deficit related to thought disorder served as the experimental task. Two groups of 97 hospitalized psychiatric patients, one group classified as schizophrenic and the other as psychiatric controls, served as Ss. Both groups performed below the normal level reported by Boland and Chapman but somewhat above the mean level of the chronic schizophrenics they tested. The schizophrenic group in this study did not perform differently from the psychiatric controls on the experimental task. Results indicate that some factor other than schizophrenic thought disorder was being measured by the experimental task. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychometric detection of schizotypy: Perceptual aberration and physical anhedonia in relatives of schizophrenics.

Administered scales of Perceptual Aberration (PERAB) and Physical Anhedonia (PHYSAN), traits that may be related to risk for schizophrenia, to 54 schizophrenics, 146 of their 1st-degree relatives (evaluated for schizophrenia-related disorders), and 178 normal Ss (screened for psychotic disorders in them or their relatives). For both scales, there was a significant effect of group membership. For the PERAB scale, the schizophrenics had higher scores than the normal Ss, who had higher scores than the relatives. For the PHYSAN scale, schizophrenics had higher scores than their relatives, who had higher scores than the normal Ss. Patterns of familial correlations also suggested that physical anhedonia, but not perceptual aberration, may be familial among schizophrenics and their relatives. The PHYSAN scale, but not the PERAB one, may be a useful indicator of liability for schizophrenia among the relatives of affected probands. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anhedonia and premorbid competence in young, nonpsychotic psychiatric inpatients

Earlier studies have demonstrated a significant relation between scores on the Physical Anhedonia Scale--but not on the Perceptual Aberration Scale--and premorbid social adjustment in schizophrenics (Chapman, Chapman, & Raulin, 1976, 1978; Schuck, Leventhal, Rothstein, & Irizarry, 1984). A similar relation between scores on these 2 scales and interpersonal competence in college students has also been noted (Beckfield, 1985; Haberman, Chapman, Numbers, & McFall, 1979; Numbers & Chapman, 1982). The present study extends this work by examining the relation of premorbid adjustment to scores on these 2 scales among young, nonpsychotic psychiatric inpatients. Consistent with the earlier findings, anhedonic Ss had poorer premorbid social competence when compared with nonanhedonic Ss, whereas no relation was found between scores on perceptual aberration and premorbid social competence.     

Effect of surface modifiers on the electrode reactions and conformation of cytochrome c3 adsorbed on a silver electrode

Higher rates of left-handedness and atypical lateralization in schizophrenics paired with findings of morphological abnormalities in cerebral asymmetry suggest that the normal patterns of hemisphere specialization for processing verbal and spatial information may be anomalous in schizophrenics. The small number of studies that have addressed this question have produced inconsistent findings and varied with subtype diagnosis, gender, type of task employed, task difficulty, and control of handedness. Conflicting research findings also may be due to confounding from the heterogeneity of the schizophrenic construct and variability in clinical symptoms across patients. The present study was designed to control for factors that may have confounded earlier studies. Because the study used perceptual measures, the relationship between symptoms of perceptual aberration and hemisphere advantages was examined using Chapman et al.'s (1978) Perceptual Aberration Scale (PAS). Fifteen male schizophrenic patients and 14 male controls were administered tachistoscopic letter and facial recognition go/no-go reaction time tasks. Left hemisphere advantages were found for both controls and schizophrenics on the letter task. Right hemisphere advantages were found for controls on the facial task but not schizophrenics. Instead, a strong negative correlation was found between schizophrenics' PAS scores and hemisphere advantages (r = -0.685, p < 0.007). Further analysis identified a subgroup of schizophrenics with perceptual aberration who exhibited reversed left hemisphere advantages that increased as the PAS scores increased. Additional research is needed to determine whether this subgroup of schizophrenics constitutes a meaningful subtype with a distinct disease process that disrupts the development of normal cerebral lateralization. The findings provide further evidence for the importance of examining relationships between schizophrenics' performance on cognitive measures and their symptom patterns.     

Scales for physical and social anhedonia

Devised 2 true–false scales to measure anhedonia, the lowered ability to experience pleasure: a 40-item Physical Anhedonia (PA) scale and a 48-item Social Anhedonia (SA) scale. After scale development using 371 college students, the final version was given to 505 normal adults stratified by social class, age (18–45), and sex, and to 123 male schizophrenics. The potential artifacts of social desirability, acquiescence, and random responding were ruled out. Coefficient alpha values for PA and for SA were .74 and .85 for male normal Ss and .82 and .85 for male schizophrenics. Schizophrenics scored more anhedonic than normal Ss on both PA and SA. Schizophrenics' scores on PA fell into 2 clusters of scores, one resembling the total distribution of the normal Ss, and a 2nd cluster consisting of scores that were more anhedonic than those of the normal Ss. Anhedonics were more often poor premorbid and hedonics more often good premorbid. The PA scale may be useful for testing the hypotheses, advanced by several theorists, that anhedonia is genetically transmitted and that nonpsychotic anhedonics are at high risk for schizophrenia. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anhedonia and perceptual aberration in first-episode psychotic patients and their relatives.

One hundred eighteen psychiatric patients, each experiencing his or her first lifetime episode of psychosis, 125 of their first-degree relatives, and 155 normal subjects were assessed using the physical anhedonia, social anhedonia, and perceptual aberration scales of L. J. Chapman et al (1976; see also PA, Vol 62:3733). We hypothesized that psychotic subjects would obtain higher scores on these scales than their relatives and the controls, and we expected the group of relatives to score more deviantly than the normal controls. The physical anhedonia and social anhedonia scales successfully differentiated the psychiatric patients from the relatives and the latter from the normal subjects. These findings testify to the construct validity of the scales and suggest that they tap a predisposition to psychosis. Unexpectedly, the relatives scored lower on the perceptual aberration scale than did the normal controls, perhaps because the relatives adopted a defensive response set. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Strong meaning-response bias in schizophrenia.

Examined the generality among schizophrenics of the specific form of associative intrusion identified by L. J. Chapman (1964, 1965, 1971), an exaggerated strong meaning-response bias. Ss were 15 drug-free chronics, 18 medicated chronics, 18 medicated acutes, and 18 normal prisoners matched for education, length of institutionalization (chronic groups and prisoners only), and estimated IQ. As hypothesized, only chronic schizophrenic patients differed significantly from psychiatrically normal prisoners. Expected phenothiazine effects, however, were not observed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation of social competence to scores on two scales of psychosis proneness.

Predicted that college students who were high on physical anhedonia and perceptual aberration would have poor social competence. The prediction followed from clinical reports that these characteristics are found in psychosis-prone individuals, a group also described as having poor social competence. Anhedonia and perceptual aberration were measured by the true–false scales of L. J. Chapman et al (1976), and social competence was measured by the Interpersonal Behavior Role-Playing Test (J. B. Goldsmith and R. M. McFall, 1975). The 16 anhedonic Ss were less socially skilled than the 19 control Ss (p?     

Susceptibility to Type A backward pattern masking among hypothetically psychosis-prone college students.

Evaluated the Type A backward masking functions of individuals defined as vulnerable to psychosis by their scores on psychosis-proneness scales developed by L. J. Chapman et al (see record 1982-20120-001). An initial screening battery consisting of the MMPI and the Chapman scales was administered to 455 undergraduates. 10 Ss identified as belonging to a physical anhedonia group and 10 Ss with a perceptual aberration-magical ideation (per-mag) were compared with 10 normal control Ss on the visual masking task. Two dependent measures were evaluated: critical stimulus duration (CSD) in a no-mask condition and mean target identification as a function of varying interstimulus intervals. No differences were obtained in CSD values among groups. However, both psychosis-prone groups had significantly fewer correct identifications of target stimuli than did control Ss on the masking portion of the study. Results are discussed in terms of susceptibility to Type A backward masking as a potential marker of vulnerability to schizophrenia and in terms of the validity of the Chapman scales as measures of psychosis proneness. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Accounting for schizophrenics' Magical Ideation scores: Are college-student norms relevant?

L. George and R. W. Neufeld (see record 1988-06342-001) presented preliminary evidence for the use of the Magical Ideation Scale (MIS) for differentiating schizophrenics from nonschizophrenics. However, the schizophrenics in their study produced mean MIS scores substantially lower than the hypothetically psychosis-prone subjects in the initial MIS validation study (M. Eckblad and L. J. Chapman; see record 1983-21153-001). Moreover, their control subjects produced mean MIS scores that were substantially lower than the average college student in the original validation sample. We present additional normative college student data (N?=?3,249) that corroborates that of Eckblad and Chapman and discuss the implications of these data for the conclusions offered by George and Neufeld. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two studies on the language behavior of schizophrenics.

Tested L. J. Chapman's hypothesis that contextual constraints are less salient, and stronger meaning constraints more salient for schizophrenics than for normals, as was the hypothesis drawn from the works of K. Salzinger and of R. L. Cromwell and P. R. Dokecki that schizophrenics are overly constrained by immediate cues relative to distant ones. Ss were 3 groups of males at a VA hospital: 25 normal controls, staff members; 22 hospitalized controls, nonschizophrenic patients; and 71 schizophrenics. The Chapman hypothesis was supported only for disorganized schizophrenics and only when the ambiguous element being considered was lexical. The immediacy hypothesis was supported with regard to semantic constraints. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A longitudinal study of drug and alcohol use by psychosis-prone and impulsive-nonconforming individuals.

The rates of substance use and abuse are higher among psychotic patients and antisocial individuals than in the general population. In a 10-year longitudinal study, psychosis-prone individuals identified by the Perceptual Aberration (L. J. Chapman, J. P. Chapman, M. L. Raulin, 1976) and Magical Ideation (Per-Mag) scales (M. Eckblad & L. J. Chapman, 1983), and individuals with antisocial traits, identified by the Impulsive Nonconformity (Noncon) scale (L. J. Chapman et al., 1984), exceeded a control group on rates of substance use disorders. As hypothesized, the Per-Mag group demonstrated preferential patterns of substance use similar to those reported for schizophrenic patients. Participants who scored deviantly on both the Per-Mag and Noncon scales were at especially heightened risk for substance use disorders. Psychosis proneness at the initial screening predicted substance abuse at the follow-up evaluation, but substance abuse at the initial interview did not predict later clinical psychosis or psychoticlike experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Handedness of hypothetically psychosis-prone subjects.

It has been reported that more schizophrenic individuals than normal subjects exhibit nonrighthandedness. A group of 7,457 college students were administered a measure of handedness as well as three psychosis-proneness scales, namely, the Perceptual Aberration-Magical Ideation Scale (Chapman, Chapman, & Raulin, 1978; Eckblad & Chapman, 1983), the Impulsive Nonconformity Scale (Chapman et al., 1984), and the Physical Anhedonia Scale (Chapman, Chapman, & Raulin, 1976). The number of subjects scoring high on the Perceptual Abberation-Magical Ideation Scale or the Impulsive Nonconformity Scale (or both) exceeded the number of control subjects on the incidence of ambilateral (mixed) handedness. (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)     

Auditory processing speed and signal detection in schizophrenia.

Examined 2 differing explanations of schizophrenic processing deficit, J. Chapman and A. McGhie's (1962) and A. J. Yates's (see PA, Vol 41:10769). 32 18-46 yr old schizophrenics, classified on the acute-chronic and paranoid-nonparanoid dimensions, and 8 17-45 yr old neurotics were tested on 2 dichotic listening tasks. One task gave reaction time measures of processing speed at 3 rates of stimulus presentation; the other assessed stimulus detection and channel selectivity using theory of signal detection methods. Results support Yates and indicate that schizophrenics can attend successfully to 1 of 2 competing channels. Neither reduced sensory sensitivity nor response bias appeared to affect the performance of any group of Ss. Slowness of processing was a deficit characteristic of chronic, particularly nonparanoid, schizophrenics, although the factors responsible for this slowness remain a matter for empirical investigation. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Premorbid status in schizophrenia and abstract, literal or autistic proverb interpretation.

Examined the relationship between scores on the Premorbid Adjustment scale of the Phillips Prognostic Rating Scale and responses to the Gorham Proverbs Test scored for correct abstraction, literalness, and autism. Ss were 42 male and 6 female schizophrenics (mean age 34 yrs) who also completed the Vocabulary subscale of the WAIS. As was found in previous studies, there was a significant relationship between the Phillips scale score and scores on correct abstracting ability such that process schizophrenics were less abstract. However, there was no significant relationship between the Phillips scale scores and scores for literalness, even though literalness scores were strongly related to correct abstraction scores. Autism scores were the most strongly related to the Phillips scale scores. It is concluded that process schizophrenics are not more literal than reactives but that the difference in correct abstracting ability is at least in part due to differences in autistic responding such that process schizophrenics tend to give more autistic responses than do reactives. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Speech competence in manic and schizophrenic psychoses: The association between clinically rated thought disorder and cohesion and reference performance.

Compared 20 thought-disordered (TD) manics and schizophrenics (mean age 31 yrs) to 20 manic and schizophrenic patients (mean age 31.25 yrs) without thought disorder (NTD) and to 10 normal Ss (mean age 30.9 yrs) normal on the rating scales of cohesion and reference performance in speech developed by S. R. Rochester and J. R. Martin (1979). TD manics and schizophrenics differed from NTD Ss and the normal group in their more frequent use of unclear references as well as in their less frequent use of effective cohesion and reference strategies. Speech elements of the TD Ss were classified into disordered and nondisordered segments, and the same natural language analysis was completed for each category of speech segments. Nondisordered speech segments of TD Ss were quite similar to the overall speech performance of NTD Ss and the normal group. There were no cohesion or reference performance differences between TD manics and TD schizophrenics in their disordered speech segments. Findings are interpreted as validation of the usefulness of the Rochester and Martin rating system for identifying aspects of speech performance that are related to clinically rated thought disorder. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)