The two factors present in the Embedded Figures Test and a suggested short form for hospitalized psychiatric patients.

Explored the difficulties of using the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) with hospitalized psychiatric patients. A factor analysis of the EFT indicated the presence of a reversible perspective factor in addition to a pure embedded figures factor. No differences were found in the performance of 383 male 20-60 yr old psychiatric patients divided in terms of chronicity, premorbidity, and diagnosis on the reversible perspective factor. However, acute good premorbid nonschizophrenics were more field independent and chronic poor premorbid schizophrenics were more field dependent on the pure embedded figure factor. The factors previously considered to account for poor patient performance were redefined in terms of test length and the compounding effects of early failure. A short form of the EFT was devised to minimize such effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation between current diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia and the dimensions of premorbid adjustment, paranoid symptomatology, and chronicity.

46 broadly defined schizophrenics were diagnosed according to 7 current diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia, and the subtyping dimensions of premorbid adjustment, paranoid symptomatology, and chronicity were assessed. Despite the minimal overlap between many of these criteria, samples selected by each of these systems were comparable in terms of the 3 subtyping dimensions. Results indicate that patients diagnosed as schizophrenic by each of these criteria were similar to schizophrenics who failed to meet those particular criteria with respect to premorbid adjustment, paranoid symptomatology, and chronicity. (39 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)     

Schizophrenics' size estimations of thematic stimuli.

Found that relationships between premorbid adjustment, schizophrenia subtype, stimulus content, and size judgments of thematic stimuli were substantially dependent on the sequences in which stimuli were presented. Ss were 36 paranoid and 36 nonparanoid schizophrenics, and a comparison sample of 36 prisoners, matched for length of institutionalization. Individual differences in schizophrenics' size estimations were not simply related to premorbid adjustment, schizophrenic subtype, or to 2 common measures of chronicity-length of illness and length of hospitalization-while proportion of time hospitalized since 1st admission, interacting with schizophrenia subtype, was correlated with size judgments. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Size estimation in schizophrenia as a function of censure, diagnosis, premorbid adjustment, and chronicity.

72 male schizophrenics divided in terms of chronicity, diagnosis, and premorbid adjustment estimated the size of a line embedded in different affective and neutral content. The main result was that premorbid adjustment and chronicity interacted in size-estimation performance with the good, premorbid-adjustment group exhibiting a smaller size estimation in the chronic condition than in the acute, while the poor, premorbid-adjustment group exhibited the opposite effect. Although a Premorbid Adjustment * Chronicity interaction was predicted in previous work, the specific over- or underestimation tendency found for each schizophrenic subgroup differed from those previously predicted. The differences in the present results and predictions derived from a review of the literature are discussed in terms of possible difficulties inherent in making inferences from studies which did not directly control the relevant subject dimensions. Results indicate little support for the social-censure hypothesis and suggest the greater effect of organismic variables relative to stimulus variables in predicting schizophrenic task performance. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Skin conductance basal level and reactivity in schizophrenia as a function of chronicity, premorbid adjustment, diagnosis, and medication.

Examined the skin conductance basal level and GSR of 384 male schizophrenics divided into subgroups according to chronicity, premorbid adjustment, diagnosis, and medication. 10 male psychiatric aides served as normal controls. Results indicate that basal level differences between schizophrenic subgroups or between schizophrenics and normals were mainly due to long-term institutionalization. The novelty of the experimental situation, as contrasted with the usual minimal stimulation domicile of the chronic patient, resulted in extensive responsivity not exhibited by the acute schizophrenic, other hospitalized patients, or normals. An interaction of premorbid adjustment and diagnosis within the chronicity subgroups was also found. The GSR differences between schizophrenic subgroups were primarily due to begin on or off medication, and this was mainly evident in the premorbid adjustment grouping. The results of an examination of social censure stimulus effects were not supportive of a social censure hypothesis. (35 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Meaning dimensions and male-female voice perception in schizophrenics with good and poor premorbid adjustment.

This study explored certain aspects of perceptual distortion in schizophrenia. Among schizophrenics with a good premorbid adjustment, schizophrenics with a poor premorbid adjustment, and normals, auditory perception of spoken material was compared as a function of (a) sex of voice and (b) dimensions of meaning. The Ss listened to successive presentations of a recorded spoken word, mixed with decreasing amounts of masking noise, until their recognition threshold were established. Schizophrenics with poor premorbid adjustment responding to the female voice had significantly higher thresholds than those responding to the male voice. This finding did not occur in schizophrenics with good premorbid adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associative interference in schizophrenia as a function of paranoid status and premorbid adjustment.

Administered a sorting task and a paired-associates-learning task, which included a built-in associative interference factor, to 80 hospitalized white male chronic schizophrenics, divided by paranoid or nonparanoid status and good or poor premorbid adjustment, and matched for age and education. Results added support to the associative interference theory concerning psychological deficit in schizophrenia. This was more pronounced in the case of the sorting task than the paired-associates-learning task perhaps because the latter is confounded by a strong memory factor. Findings also indicate that paranoid and premorbid status interactively affect performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptual span in schizophrenia.

Administered a forced-choice letter recognition task to assess the span of apprehension of 30 schizophrenics (good premorbid paranoids, good premorbid nonparanoids, and poor premorbid nonparanoids) and 20 controls (hospitalized nonschizophrenics and penitentiary inmates). When the task required only that 1 target letter be detected, there were no significant differences between groups. When the target was presented in conjunction with varying numbers of irrelevant "noise" letters, however, the span of schizophrenics was significantly less than that of either control group. The span of schizophrenics reached an upper limit at a small display size (4 letters) and showed no further increase. The constructs of premorbid adjustment and paranoid status bore no relationship to the deficit. Measures of the trial-to-trial variability in number of elements processed and consistency of scanning path did not differentiate schizophrenics and controls. The number of irrelevant noise letters surrounding a target was found to have no influence on detection in either group. (23 ref.) (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)     

Premorbid adjustment and paranoid-nonparanoid status in schizophrenia: A further investigation.

Investigated the interrelations between premorbid social competence, role orientation as expressed in symptomatology, and paranoid-nonparanoid status in 295 Veterans Administration (VA) hospital and 300 state hospital male schizophrenic patients. Among state hospital paranoid schizophrenics, paranoids had higher premorbid social competence scores (Phillips-Zigler Social Competence Index) than nonparanoids. For VA hospital schizophrenics, paranoid-nonparanoid status was unrelated to premorbid social competence. State hospital patients had lower premorbid competence scores and a higher incidence of nonparanoid diagnosis than VA hospital patients. The prevalence of a number of symptoms also differed between the 2 hospitals. The role orientation symptom pictures differed both for hospitals and for paranoid and nonparanoid status. The relationships between role orientation, paranoid-nonparanoid status, and premorbid social competence are discussed within a developmental framework. (23 ref.) (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.     

Preference for complexity in acute schizophrenics.

Employed a paired comparisons scaling technique to assess the preference of schizophrenics for varying quantities of information as presented in geometric forms. Both good premorbid paranoid and poor premorbid nonparanoid schizophrenics showed their greatest preference for the least complex shapes. Results are discussed in terms of H. Munsinger and W. Kessen's (see 39:2) conception of a match between preference for environmental information and input-processing capacity. (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)     

Size Estimation in Schizophrenics as a Function of Stimulus-Presentation Time.

15 good premorbid paranoid acute schizophrenics, 15 poor premorbid nonparanoid acute schizophrenics, and 15 attendants, all males, estimated stimulus paranoid size after receiving (a) 10-sec. and (b) 100-msec. presentations of the standard, also (c) 10-msec. blank flashes instead of the standard. Choices were then made from a group of variable-sized stimuli. As expected, good paranoids, normals, and poor nonparanoids tended to low, intermediate, and high estimation levels, respectively. Contrary to eye-movement interpretation, patient groups differed under the 100-msec. presentation. Lowered estimation level with this presentation suggested stimulus redundancy interpretations. No differences with the blank flash ruled out a simple size-preference response bias. Equal proportions of "hits" among groups indicated that error distributions rather than error frequencies accounted for the results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Performance of good and poor premorbid male schizophrenics as a function of paternal vs. maternal censure.

The hypothesis that interference in schizophrenic performance depends on an interaction between level of premorbid adjustment, paternal vs. maternal source of stimulation, and censuring vs. approval content was tested. 4 tape recordings were played for 80 good and 80 poor premorbid adjustment schizophrenics—father-son censure, father-son approval, mother-son censure, and mother-son approval. Performance was measured by a change from a pre- to post-Digit-Symbol test. The hypothesis was confirmed—good premorbids show interference with paternal censure and poor premorbids with maternal censure. A comparison group of 80 normals did not show this kind of interaction. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Electrodermal nonresponding, premorbid adjustment, and symptomatology as predictors of long-term social functioning in schizophrenics.

The hypothesis that electrodermal nonresponsiveness to orienting stimuli delineates a core group of "Kraepelinian" type schizophrenics was tested by following up social functioning outcome over a 2-year period in 37 schizophrenics. Good social functioning outcome required both some self-supporting ability in the job market and a minimal social life. The prior assessments included monitoring of electrodermal responses to a series of moderately intense tones, ratings of reported and observed symptoms during an interview, and ratings of premorbid adjustment on the basis of an interview with a close relative. Electrodermal nonresponding, poor premorbid adjustment, and negative symptomatology predicted poor social functioning during the second follow-up year, but the relationship to nonresponding pertained exclusively to a group of 15 first-episode patients. Discriminant analysis showed that electrodermal nonresponding and symptoms were the only independent predictors of outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Proprioception and schizophrenia: a replication study with nonschizophrenic patient controls

In 3 experiments, weight discrimination, arm flexion discrimination, and a test of kinesthetic figural aftereffects were used to evaluate the proprioceptive functioning of 40 schizophrenic patients, 30 nonschizophrenic (psychotic and nonpsychotic) patients, and 10 normals. The additional variables of premorbid functioning and paranoia were also examined. Previous findings of a subtle proprioceptive deficit for schizophrenics in comparison with normals were replicated for nonparanoid schizophrenics of a weight-discrimination procedure and poor premorbid schizophrenics on an arm-flexion task. The kinesthetic-figural-aftereffects schizophrenic deficit previously reported by the author and E. Ebner (see record 1974-23243-001) was not replicated. Deficits in proprioception also were found for all nonschizophrenic patient groups on the weight-discrimination procedure and for poor premorbid nonschizophrenic psychotics and neurotics on the arm-flexion task. It is concluded that a deficit in proprioception is not unique to schizophrenia but appears to be related to chronicity and severity of pathology in both schizophrenic and nonschizophrenic hospitalized patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Short-term visual memory in schizophrenics.

Hypothesized that the deficit of poor premorbid schizophrenics in backward masking is due to interference in short-term visual memory (STVM) because of the tendency to process a pattern mask as if it were a cognitive mask. The hypothesis was tested in a backward-masking picture-recognition paradigm, using data from 32 male psychiatric patients (aged 18–55 yrs) and 14 hospital personnel. The 12 good premorbid schizophrenics, 7 nonschizophrenic psychotics, and normal Ss all showed differential pattern- and cognitive-mask performance. The performances of 13 poor premorbids were equivalent on both mask types. Findings corroborate the hypothesis. It is suggested that integration of stimuli in poor premorbids' sensory storage was intact and that the disruption in processing caused by a pattern mask at 200–300 msec was due to an interference in STVM. It is concluded that the hypothesis of a deficit in perceptual organization best accounts for the apparent disruptions in poor premorbids' STVM. (70 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)