Differences between schizophrenic and brain-damaged groups in conceptual aspects of object sorting.

The hypothesis tested was that of the two conceptual variables, amount of social agreement and order of conceptual classification, the latter would show the greatest difference between schizophrenic and brain-damaged Ss. Ss consisted of 37 chronic paranoid schizophrenic patients and 34 brain-damaged patients. The sorting task used was the Rapaport modification of the Goldstein-Gelb-Weigl Object Sorting Test. The variable of social agreement was scored in terms of the relative publicness-privateness of each conceptual sorting, and the variable of order of classification was scored in terms of number of attributes used in the definition. 5 other measures derived from their interactions were also used. Analysis of covariance yielded results in the predicted direction. The greatest F ratio was for the closed-open variable, in keeping with the major hypothesis. 24 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Level versus pattern of neuropsychological performance among schizophrenic and diffusely brain-damaged patients.

Differences in both mean level and pattern of neuropsychological test performance were examined among groups of carefully screened schizophrenic and acute and chronic diffusely brain-damaged patients (24 Ss in each group). This was done separately for the WAIS subtests and the 12 average impairment rating (AIR) variables derived from the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery. The schizophrenics performed at a significantly higher level than brain-damaged Ss on both test batteries. Subsequent deficit pattern analyses and coefficients of profile pattern similarity revealed very little difference among the 3 groups in their patterns of performance on the WAIS and AIR batteries. Discriminant function analyses were employed to estimate the diagnostic utility of level vs pattern of performance on the WAIS and AIR in discriminating schizophrenics from brain-damaged Ss. Results suggest that mean level of performance can be used to discriminate clearly defined schizophrenic and diffusely brain-damaged groups, but that pattern analysis offers little additional information. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Microgenetic analysis of word associations in schizophrenic and brain-damaged patients.

Associations to the Kent-Rosanoff list of words were categorized as being "mature" or "immature" following the schema outlined by previous research (see 33: 8338). In that research, some support was found for the hypothesis that schizophrenics respond in a more "immature" manner than normals. The present study repeats the former one, adding a second group for comparison (a group of organics) in addition to the control group of normals. The results did not support the former study. Organics were found to be perseverative in "meaningful" responses to the word stimuli, but not to repeat irrelevant ones. From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4JQ64M. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multivariate structure of associations between verbal and nonverbal intelligence among brain-damaged, schizophrenic, neurotic, and alcoholic patients.

The scores of 380 male Ss—brain-damaged, process schizophrenic, reactive schizophrenic, neurotic, and alcoholic patients—on the Verbal and Performance subtests of the WAIS were subjected to canonical correlational and multiple discriminant analyses. Substantial associations between verbal and nonverbal abilities were found for all groups, although these correlations were sufficiently imperfect that each set of subtests contributed independently to group discrimination when combined with the other set. Results support C. Spearman's (1927) view that measures of intelligence contain both general and specific components of variance and not the high degree of differentiation that is sometimes postulated. It is concluded that major forms of psychopathology are characterized more by differences in intellectual profile patterns than by changes in the basic organization of abilities. (18 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)     

Psychopathologic symptoms and cognitive test performance in schizophrenic patients

Psychopathological symptoms and cognitive test performance were examined in 34 acute schizophrenic patients. The results of a clusteranalytic approach in order to distinguish groups of patients with different syndromes were disappointing. Three dimensions of negative, hallucinatory-delusional, and disorganised symptoms could be established by factor analysis. The disorganised symptom dimension showed strong and significant relations to mnestic and intellectual impairments of the patients. Hallucinatory-delusional symptoms were related to deficits in tests of visual memory and visual search. Negative symptoms were not related to cognitive impairments of the patients. The results are discussed in respect of other studies reporting correlations of schizophrenic symptoms and cognitive disturbances, and with regard to hypotheses of brain dysfunction in schizophrenia. In future research, consideration of the three main dimensions of schizophrenic symptoms could be useful to reduce the heterogeneity of schizophrenic samples.     

Multivariate analysis of the conceptual behavior of schizophrenic and brain-damaged patients.

A cross-validation of the findings of previous research by the authors and Grassi (see 33: 3260) with regard to the conceptual behavior of schizophrenics and brain-damaged Ss. The multivariate analysis involves the conceptualization of a given response along coordinate axes of 2 continua: open-closed, public-private. The previous findings are reproduced, discussed, and compared and related to the Grassi findings. 15 refs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intradimensional reversal shift performance in brain-damaged and chronic alcoholic patients.

Examined impaired set-shifting behavior frequently reported in brain-damaged Ss. Using a simple E-paced, 2-choice, visual, intradimensional reversal shift task, samples of brain-damaged (n = 24), alcoholic (n = 28), and control (n = 24) male patients were compared on errors, reaction time, and behavioral impulsivity (finger lift before signal). Alcoholic Ss were not significantly different from controls on any of the measures. As expected, brain-damaged Ss had significantly more total errors, longer reaction times, and higher impulsivity scores than controls. Differences in errors appeared to be due to difficulty in maintaining the perceptual and motor set rather than in set shifting. The importance of investigating disruptions in set maintenance in the performance of brain-damaged Ss is emphasized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Concept identification and practice in brain-damaged and process-reactive schizophrenic groups.

A nonverbal concept identification task involving easy and difficult subtests was given to groups of process and reactive schizophrenic, brain-damaged, and control patients. The same test was administered twice. Brain-damaged and process schizophrenic groups had poorer overall performance than the other 2 groups but did not differ from each other significantly. However, patterns of improvement on the easy and difficult subtests were different for the schizophrenic vs. brain-damaged groups. Implications for "organic" vs. "functional" explanations of process schizophrenia were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

MMPI indices in the discrimination of brain-damaged and schizophrenic groups.

Conducted an investigation of C. G. Watson's (see record 1971-10226-001) 3 forms of an MMPI-based Schizophrenic-Organicity scale as an alternative to ability-oriented approaches. Results support the hypothesis that these scales might be valid discriminators of brain-damaged and schizophrenic men equated for degree of intellectual deficit. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An MMPI scale to separate brain-damaged from schizophrenic men.

Developed 3 MMPI scales: (a) an unweighted scale consisting of 80 items differentially endorsed by 61 organics and 65 schizophrenics at a Veterans Administration psychiatric hospital, (b) the same items weighted as a function of their differentiating power, and (c) a short form consisting of the 30 most powerful items weighted in accordance with their differentiating strength. Scales were cross-validated in a state hospital population and a general medical and surgical Veterans Administration hospital. Results indicate that the scales differentiate male organics from schizophrenics but are of dubious value among female populations. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neuropsychological test findings for normal, learning-disabled, and brain-damaged young adults.

Discriminant function analysis of scores from the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery and Trail-Making Test correctly classified 83% of normal, 63% of learning-disabled, and 80% of brain-damaged Ss (N?=?110). 36% of the learning-disabled Ss had an Impairment Index of .4 or greater. Results confirm the importance of generalized neuropsychological deficits for many instances of learning disabilities. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of supportive versus disinterested interviews on perceptual-motor performance in brain-damaged and neurotic patients.

The differential effect of 2 types of interpolated interviews upon the perceptual-motor performance (Stein's Symbol-Gestalt Test) of brain-damaged and neurotic patients was investigated in 2 experiments. Cross-validated results indicate that Ss given disinterested, impersonal, irrelevant information-gathering interviews have a significantly lower rate of improvement over 3 successive administrations of the test than Ss given warm, supportive, anxiety-reducing interviews. Interaction effects were significant in the brain-damaged groups but not in the neurotics. The results support Goldstein's contention that brain damage results in a heightened dependency upon external cues and feedback and emphasize the importance of E variables in the clinical assessment of, and research with, brain-damaged populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation between latency and redundancy-associated deficit in schizophrenic reaction time performance.

Evaluated the independence of 2 well-established measures of information-processing difficulties in process schizophrenics, namely, reaction time measures of latency and redundancy-associated deficit. Training exercises were designed to improve the speed of reaction time performance in 16 male Ss (average age 32.5 yrs). These exercises were successful in reducing latency over the course of training and from pre- to posttraining assessments to levels falling around the range of performance expected of normals. Redundancy-associated deficit, however, did not change from pre- to postassessment, indicating that this index is not a simple reflection of latency and is not responsive to training procedures involving positive motivation. Intercorrelations of the 2 indexes also showed that these measures were independent, at least within the process end of the schizophrenic spectrum. Furthermore, the 2 measures correlated with different types of S factors. Latency measures correlated with measures of chronicity, and the redundancy-deficit measure was correlated with prognosis. Findings help to clarify the utility of reaction time indexes as markers of various aspects of schizophrenic pathology. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Speed in test performance in depressed patients.

Compared the performance of 2 groups of nonschizophrenic, nonorganic, psychiatric patients—25 depressed (mean age 41.4 yrs) and 25 nondepressed (mean age 37.8 yrs) Ss—on several tests, including the Quick Test, the WAIS, and 10 speed tests and measures of ambiguous figure reversal rates. The 2 groups of Ss were matched for general psychopathology, sex, age, and education. No difference in the performance on power-cognitive (i.e., intelligence) tests was found. Depressed patients performed more slowly on psychomotor speed tests, confirming an earlier study comparing depressed patients and normal controls. Findings generally confirm those of the 1st author et al (1972) and those of several earlier studies summarized by W. R. Miller (see record 1975-20082-001). (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of reproduction errors made by brain-damaged and control patients on a memory-for-designs test.

"The performances of brain damaged and control groups on the Benton Visual Retention Test were compared in terms of total number of correct reproductions, total number of errors, and relative frequency of occurrence of ten different types of errors. The mean total number of correct reproductions of the control Ss was found to be significantly higher and their mean number of errors significantly lower than the corresponding means of the brain damaged Ss. No significant difference, however, between the 2 groups in the overall patterns of the 10 different types of errors could be demonstrated." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment of long-term memory in brain-damaged patients.

A standardized questionnaire that tested the ability to recognize the names of TV programs broadcast for a single year was found to provide an efficient method of examining long-term memory in patients with brain damage of diverse common etiologies. Ss were 28 brain-damaged patients (mean age 32.14 yrs, mean education 11.59 yrs) and 28 controls matched for age and education. Contrary to the widely accepted view that remote memory is relatively invulnerable to disruption caused by cerebral disease, recognition memory was least efficient for titles of older programs in both brain-damaged and control groups. The relative degree of deficit in patients with brain lesions proved to be minimal for the most recently aired programs as compared with more remote information. Findings are discussed with respect to studies of markedly amnesic patients. Methodological problems involved in the assessment of remote memory are also considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Immediate and delayed responses from memory in brain-damaged patients.

Hypothesized that brain-damaged (bd) patients perform more poorly than non-brain-damaged (nbd) patients on both immediate and delayed memory tasks and that the difference is greater on the delayed memory tasks. 24 bd and 24 nbd psychiatric patients were administered a 15-design multiple choice version of the benton visual retention test. Results support earlier findings that memory performance is susceptible to brain damage, but questions its relevance in specifying the 2 different memory functions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Short-term memory: A comparison between frontal and nonfrontal right- and left-hemisphere brain-damaged patients.

Tested 2 groups of brain-damaged patients (n = 60 and 17) and 2 groups of controls (n = 28 and 7) on 4 different short-term memory tasks, each designed to measure the amount of information registered (0-sec delay recall) and retained after a delay of 10 sec. in 1 of 3 (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic) sensory modalities, using a variety of stimulus materials. Differences between the brain-damaged and control groups were largely due to the reduced capacity of the brain damaged to register information. Ss with anterior cerebral damage did more poorly than Ss with posterior damage on both visual and auditory short-term memory tasks. No significant differences were found between right- and left-hemisphere-damaged Ss. (26 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)