Sex-role development and psychopathology in adult males.

Compared the responses of matched groups of 20 nonparanoid schizophrenic, paranoid schizophrenic, neurotic, and normal adult males on measures relating to masculinity-femininity of self-perceptions (Adject Check List) and interests and attitudes (the Femininity scale of the CPI). Results consistently indicate that all the disturbed groups were much less masculine than the normal Ss. There were few clear-cut differences among the disturbed groups. (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)     

Psychological distance in the family as schematized by families of normal, disturbed, and learning-problem children.

Used a family doll placement technique to study psychological distance within 30 families with a disturbed and a nondisturbed boy. The father, mother, and 2 children each did the task individually, and then as a family group. Families were divided into 3 groups of 10 in which the S was (a) normal, (b) emotionally disturbed, or (c) had serious learning problems. Psychological distance was measured by the actual distance placed between doll dyads. As hypothesized, both groups of disturbed Ss placed greater distance between the mother doll and the doll representing himself than normal Ss in negative story themes. Unexpectedly, female siblings of disturbed Ss placed greater distance between the father doll and the doll representing herself than female siblings of normal Ss in negative story themes. These differences also appeared when the family group did the task. Teacher ratings showed the disturbed Ss to be more interpersonally distant and dependent than the normal Ss. (23 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reversal shift preferences in process and reactive schizophrenic, brain-damaged, and control group patients.

Compared process and reactive schizophrenic, brain-damaged, and normal control groups (n = 34 each) in frequency of reversal shifts in discrimination learning using the optional-shift paradigm. The main hypothesis that reactive schizophrenics, like normal adults, would show a stronger preference for reversal shifts than would process Ss was supported. Results show that significantly more reactive (68%) than process (44%) Ss made reversal shifts. Significantly more brain-damaged and reactive schizophrenic Ss showed reversal shift preferences when color was learned initially rather than form, while such initial concept preferences were not found in the process schizophrenic or normal control Ss. Previous findings in discrimination learning with pathological groups are discussed in the context of these findings. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sentence processing in schizophrenic listeners.

40 hospitalized schizophrenics and 40 volunteers from the community (age range for both groups 17-59 yrs) listened to sentences in which a click was embedded. 20 schizophrenic Ss and 20 normal Ss were asked to reproduce the sentences and indicate precisely where the click occurred. The remaining Ss were given the previously heard sentences and asked to recognize the click locations. Results show that schizophrenic Ss tend to be less accurate than normal Ss in locating the clicks. However, this inferior performance was not due to an inability to use syntactic rules. Rather, the pattern of errors demonstrated that schizophrenic Ss distinguish between sentences which are acoustically identical but syntactically distinct, and that this distinction is maintained under response conditions with varying emphases on sentence retrieval. It is concluded that schizophrenics appear to use syntax as a basis for sentence processing at least to the same extent as normal Ss do. (27 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Span of apprehension and arousal in schizophrenia.

Investigated the relationship between levels of somatic arousal, autonomic reactivity, and visual information processing in 32 schizophrenic and 16 normal Ss. Span of apprehension for tachistoscopically presented consonants was measured over 80 trials and skin conductance level (SCL) and heart rate (HR) were monitored during rest and performance. An information-processing deficiency in the schizophrenic Ss was interpreted as related to perceptual rather than mnemonic factors. Individual differences in level of arousal (SCL and HR) were not systematically related to information-processing efficiency in schizophrenic or normal Ss. Correlations between span and change in arousal level suggested that autonomic flexibility enhanced information-processing efficiency in both groups. Amplitude of stimulus-specific autonomic reactivity in normal Ss was more specifically modulated to the attention response demands of the task. (28 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional experience and expression in schizophrenia and depression.

Examined the emotional responses of schizophrenic, depressed, and normal Ss and whether differences in the emotional responding of these groups depended on how emotional responses were elicited or measured. 23 blunted and 20 nonblunted schizophrenics, 17 unipolar depressed Ss, and 20 normal Ss were exposed to a series of affect-eliciting stimuli. The stimuli varied in valence (positive vs negative) and in level of cognitive demand. Ss reported their subjective experiences, and their facial expressions were videotaped. Blunted schizophrenics were the least facially expressive, although their reported subjective experiences did not differ from those of the other groups. The nonblunted schizophrenics were more responsive than the depressed Ss to the positive stimuli, although the 2 groups did not differ in their clinical ratings of affective flatness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Forced-choice word associations in schizophrenia.

This study, based on Freudian theory, used a forced-choice word association format to test the hypothesis that regressed schizophrenic Ss would prefer children's to adult's association. 16 schizophrenic, 16 sociopathic, and 16 normal male patients matched for age and education were tested on a 51-item test in which they were forced to choose their associations from among randomly arranged adult preferred, children preferred, and irrelevant alternatives. Using choice of children's responses minus choice of irrelevant response as a measure to control for random error markings, schizophrenic Ss differed significantly from normal Ss as predicted. Normal and sociopathic Ss did not differ. Sociopathic and schizophrenic Ss differed at p     

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)     

Shape constancy in schizophrenic patients.

Shape constancy in visual perception of schizophrenic patients was studied. 40 chronic schizophrenic, 40 acute schizophrenic, 40 nonschizophrenic mental patients, and 40 normal controls were used as Ss. Ss matched the shape of a standard object (circle) inclined at an angle. 2 angles of inclination, 30° and 60°, were used. It was found that shape constancy was lower in schizophrenic patients than in controls when the stimulus object was inclined 60° from the horizontal plane. When the angle of inclination was 30° there was no difference between the groups. The chronic schizophrenic patients displayed greater response variability than the other groups. The relation of these findings to the theory of assimilation of percepts to the perceptual schemata in schizophrenic patients was discussed. (23 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal conceptual structures of emotionally disturbed and normal boys.

Asked 24 disturbed and 24 normal boys (mean age = 10.5 yrs) to construe 12 persons known personally to them and 12 familiar inanimate objects on 2 sets of 12 5-point bipolar constructs. Ss were also asked to arrange the people and inanimate objects into personally meaningful groups. There was significantly lower differentiation and articulation, but not integration, in the interpersonal conceptual structure of disturbed Ss compared to normal controls. No differences were found in construing inanimate objects. Results are interpreted as indicating that disturbed boys are handicapped by a limited interpersonal conceptual structure for anticipating and predicting their social environment. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parietal lobe syndrome and schizophrenia: Comparison of neuropsychological deficits.

Investigated reported communalities in the perceptual impairments and body image distortions found after parietal lobe lesions and in schizophrenia. To compare these 2 syndromes, 15 patients with lesions of the parietal lobe and 15 patients with schizophrenia were tested on a neuropsychological battery designed to assess deficits in proprioception, tactile functions, and body image experience. Control groups consisted of 15 normal persons and of a series of 15 brain-injured cases in which the parietal lobe had been spared. Results indicate that both schizophrenic and parietally damaged Ss showed significant impairments in weight-discrimination measures of proprioceptive acuity when compared to the control brain-injured and normal Ss. No significant differences among groups were found on a comparable tactile size-estimation task, but the group with parietal injury exhibited a significant deficit in tactile sensory perception on the Finger Agnosia Test. Only the schizophrenic group showed evidence of disturbed body image when reality factors of body dysfunction were taken into account in the brain-injured patients. It is concluded that persons with schizophrenia and parietal lobe damage share a deficit in proprioception that may be based on different neurological substrates leading to (a) tactile impairments in cases with parietal damage, and (b) body-image disturbance in schizophrenia. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Callosal transfer in schizophrenia: Too much or too little?

Evidence from diverse sources has pointed to an abnormality in callosal transfer in schizophrenia. To examine this further, a test was devised that measures Stroop interference and facilitation within and between the cerebral hemispheres. 46 heterogeneous schizophrenic patients were tested, and it was found that lateralized Stroop effects were equivalent in the left and right hemispheres and did not differ from normal or psychiatric (affective disorder) control Ss. In control Ss, Stroop effects that required interhemispheric transfer of coded information were reduced relative to those requiring intrahemispheric transfer, whereas among schizophrenic Ss, greater Stroop effects were found in the interhemispheric condition, presumably reflecting increased callosal connectivity. An index of callosal transfer did not correlate with gender, age, or IQ in any of the groups, nor did it relate to clinical characteristics in the schizophrenic Ss. The results support a specific functional abnormality of excessive callosal transfer in schizophrenia, though its role in pathogenesis remains unspecified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are schizophrenics' behaviors schizophrenic? What medically versus psychosocially oriented therapists attribute to schizophrenic persons.

Tested the hypothesis that the medical and psychosocial therapeutic models are differentially reflected in therapists' perception of and attributions to schizophrenics. 36 20–58 yr old hospital staff (medically oriented) and 23 23–52 yr old alternative-care staff (psychosocially oriented) participated in 2 structured interviews; orientations were ascertained by the Client Attitude Questionnaire. Ss were given 4 hypothetical case studies, 2 of schizophrenic individuals and 2 of normal individuals. Ss rated case study personalities and explained their normal behaviors, such as selling T-shirts or singing in the shower. Relative to the alternative-care staff, the hospital staff attributed less freedom of choice and less purposefulness to the behaviors of the schizophrenics. They were also more likely to explain schizophrenic target persons' behaviors in terms of an underlying illness, rather than as a response to situational factors. No differences between groups were found in the amount of similarity perceived between self and the schizophrenic cases or in the degree of global freedom of choice attributed to the schizophrenic cases. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Delusional thinking and the induction process in schizophrenia.

A perceptual information-processing task was presented to minimally delusional schizophrenics, maximally delusional schizophrenics, and normal Ss. The point of emergence of their 1st response was utilized as an index of the degree to which they tended to structure ambiguous stimuli on the basis of inadequate premises. The hypothesis that the 2 schizophrenic groups would differ on the experimental task was not verified. The majority of schizophrenic Ss, however, responded either too early or too late, if the mean score of the normal group is regarded as the optimal response level. Additional data were gathered in an attempt to uncover historical or behavioral correlates of these test differences. The only difference found was in educational level. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Autonomic responsivity to variable input rates among schizophrenics classified on the process-reactive dimension.

Schizophrenic groups rated low (reactive), intermediate, and high (process) on the Elgin Prognostic Scale and a group of normal Ss discriminated between matched and unmatched pairs of nonsense syllables under varying rates of input. Continuous PGR measures were recorded as the Ss responded to the syllable pairs. Stimulus overload (defined as the extent to which the Ss were unable to respond appropriately) was assessed and shown to be consistent across groups. The groups were differentiated as to PGR responsivity. Among the schizophrenic Ss, the reactive group was the most responsive and the process Ss were least responsive to increase in rate of input. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of delayed auditory feedback on process and reactive schizophrenic subjects.

A group of 20 male process schizophrenic, 20 male reactive schizophrenic, and 20 normal Ss read a passage aloud under delayed auditory feedback. S grouping, length of hospitalization, age, education, reading speed, and audiometric variables were controlled. It was theorized that normal Ss would be most affected by delayed auditory feedback, followed by reactive and then process Ss. Results do not support this hypothesis; after covarying for control reading time, the effect of diagnostic group disappeared. However, post hoc analysis revealed a subgroup of process patients more influenced by delayed auditory feedback than all other Ss. They were older, had shorter hospitalization, more education, lower control reading times, and higher process-reactive scores than the remaining process Ss. These patients are thought to constitute an "intermediate" schizophrenic group in their social organization and psychotic symptomatology. Thus, it is speculated that delayed auditory feedback could tap interactions between sensory and social variables in certain subsets of the schizophrenic population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)