Abstract thinking and social behavior in schizophrenia.

20 normal and 24 schizophrenic Ss were presented a series of cards, each bearing a stimulus word and 2 response words variously related in meaning to the stimulus. The Ss were asked to select the response word which they felt to be "closer in meaning" to the stimulus word. The results confirmed, at the .01 level, the hypotheses that (a) normals will exceed schizophrenics in the ability to select, as most similar in meaning to a given word, that word which is related to it in an essential abstract way; and (b) within a schizophrenic group, the above ability will be positively correlated with adequacy of everyday social interaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early stimulus processing in dysthymia and anhedonia.

Previous event-related brain potential (ERP) research has found that dysthymic Ss differ from control Ss during later stages of information processing. An important issue that emerges from this literature is whether differences found in these ERP components, typically associated with cognitive processing, can be attributed to earlier differences in basic perceptual processing. This study was undertaken to determine whether early processing deficits are apparent in dysthymic persons. Responses of dysthymics (n?=?23) were compared with those of anhedonic (n?=?15) and normal control (n?=?17) Ss. ERPs were recorded while Ss heard tones at 55, 65, 75, 85, and 95 dB. Overall, N1-P1 and N1-P2 components of the ERP increased in a strong linear fashion as stimulus intensity increased. Dysthymics did exhibit a smaller N1-P2 response than normal Ss, which suggests the presence of difficulties in initial perceptual processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of psychopathology on visual discrimination.

"Perceptual and motor aspects of the Bender-Gestalt Test performance were compared for 4 groups of Ss: 10 student nurses, 10 acute schizophrenic patients, 10 chronic schizophrenic patients, and 10 patients hospitalized for neurological reasons… . After the Ss had obtained equal experiences with the Bender designs by reproducing them under memory and copy conditions, a perceptual multiple-choice test was administered under memory and matching conditions. Results indicate that there are marked differences in perceptual accuracy between the 4 groups: the control population was most accurate, with the acute schizophrenic, chronic schizophrenic, and neurological patients less proficient in that order." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of prior experimenter-subject relationships on reinforced reaction time of schizophrenics and normals.

The hypothesis was tested that deficits in schizophrenics' responses to positive social reinforcers would be reduced if reinforcers were delivered by an E who had first related to the Ss in a warm and accepting manner. Reaction times of 39 chronic schizophrenics and 39 normal adults were tested without and with reinforcement after exposure to 1 of 3 conditions of contact with E: (a) no contact, (b) contact with an unresponsive and aloof E, and (c) contact with a warm and accepting E. Schizophrenics had slowest reaction times after c. Normals had slowest reaction times after c until reinforced; on reinforced trials there were no differences between conditions for normal Ss. The results indicate that chronic schizophrenics can be motivated to gain approval but that such motivation in schizophrenics is more dependent upon immediate social circumstances than it is in normal adults. (29 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Praise and censure as motivating variables in the motor behavior and learning of schizophrenics.

Hullian assumptions regarding drive level were utilized to predict the performance of acute and chronic schizophrenics on learning tasks of varying complexity. Ss were exposed to 3 conditions of reinforcement: censure, praise, and neutral (neither censure nor praise), and faced with simple and complex learning tasks. Acute schizophrenics responded differently from the chronic Ss to the conditions of reinforcement. The performance of the acute group was facilitated on the 2nd task by the experience of being told they were wrong on the 1st; this was not so with the chronic schizophrenics. (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)     

"Unconscious anxiety": Phobic responses to masked stimuli.

Tested the hypothesis that an unconscious preattentive perceptual analysis of phobic stimuli is sufficient to elicit human fear responses. Selected snake- and spider-fearful Ss, as well as normal controls, were exposed to pictures of snakes, spiders, flowers, and mushrooms. A separate forced-choice recognition experiment established backward masking conditions that effectively precluded recognition of experimental stimuli both for fearful and nonfearful Ss. In the main experiment, these conditions were used to compare skin conductance responses (SCRs) to masked and nonmasked phobic and control pictures among fearful and nonfearful Ss. In support of the hypotheses, snake- and spider-fearful Ss showed elevated SCRs to snake and spider pictures as compared with neutral pictures and with responses of the nonfearful Ss under both masking conditions. Ratings of valence, arousal, and dominance indicated that the fearful Ss felt more negative, more aroused, and less dominant in relation to both masked and nonmasked phobic stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social participation in homogeneous and heterogeneous groups of chronic schizophrenics.

Responsiveness of socially withdrawn, regressed chronic schizophrenics to changes in the characteristics of their social environment was examined. It was hypothesized that withdrawn, regressed, hospitalized patients would participate more effectively in problem-solving groups that were heterogeneous in the activity level and "mental health" of its members than in homogeneous groups. 16 Ss rated as withdrawn and regressed and 16 active, improved Ss solved group problems in a homogeneous and heterogeneous group context. Ratings by independent judges, employing a scale devised for this purpose, indicated that both withdrawn and active chronic schizophrenics participate significantly more effectively in a heterogeneous group problem-solving situation than in a homogeneous setting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental changes in concept utilization among normal and retarded children.

Examined the concepts employed by 100 normal children in kindergarten-Grade 4 (Study 1), and by 48 retarded vs 48 normal children matched for mental ages ranging from 5 to 11 yrs (Study 2). Ss were required to select pairs of pictures from a large array of pictures depicting common objects and to explain the basis for their pairing responses. Factor analysis of the conceptual responses of normal Ss revealed factors for abstraction (nominal and functional concepts as opposed to perceptible concepts) and complimentarity ("go together" responses as opposed to similarity responses). Retarded Ss differed from normals primarily in their use of more complimentary and fewer similarity concepts. The developmental course of concept utilization for normals was characterized as a change from perceptible to nominal and functional concepts, while that for retarded Ss was characterized as a change from complimentary to similarity concepts. (21 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)     

Constancy of absolute judgments of size by normals and schizophrenics.

A study of size constancy in absolute judgments of chronic schizophrenics and normals under conditions of minimal distance cues showed a significant and consistent underestimation by schizophrenic Ss. The apparently inconsistent results from other studies of size and temporal constancy in schizophrenics were discussed and a hypothesis advanced which related the various findings as a function of loss of reality contact. Schizophrenics in good contact show stable overconstancy. Acutely disturbed schizophrenics show a loss of perceptual stability. Chronic schizophrenics have re-established perceptual stability through autistic frames of reference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attention-related effects on somatosensory evoked potentials in college students at high risk for psychopathology.

Determined whether a deviation from normal amplitude in the evoked potential in response to attention directed to a stimulus would occur in 10 undergraduates with high scores on a measure of physical anhedonia (AN) and 9 undergraduates with a high score on a measure of perceptual aberration (PA). Ss were compared with 10 control undergraduates and 7 schizophrenics (mean age 25.6 yrs). Previous studies have shown low amplitudes for schizophrenics. Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) were recorded from 5 scalp locations while Ss counted stimuli to 1 of 4 randomly stimulated fingers; SEPs to counted stimuli contained the attention-related late positive wave (P400). P400 amplitudes of AN Ss were lower than those of normal controls, whereas P400 amplitudes of PA Ss and their matched controls did not differ. P400 amplitudes of AN Ss did not differ significantly from those of schizophrenics, although AN means were somewhat higher. P400 amplitude may provide information that is different from the associated behavioral response and a more sensitive indication of central mechanism dysfunction. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of operant level, interview with experimenter, and awareness upon verbal conditioning of chronic schizophrenics.

The present research attempted to (a) cross-validate N. D. Vestre's (1961, 1965) findings that medium-operant-level pronouns can be conditioned by "good" in a chronic schizophrenic population, (b) test whether or not high-operant-level pronouns can be conditioned by "good" in a chronic schizophrenic population, and (c) compare the conditionability of high-operant-level with that of medium-operant-level pronouns. It was hypothesized that schizophrenics would be more conditionable following a brief, friendly, personal interview than in the absence of any preconditioning interview. It was expected that awareness of the response-reinforcement contingency would favor conditioning. Both the operant level and interview with experimenter variables were investigated to see whether or not either differentially affected (a) the number of aware Ss and (b) the performance of aware Ss. "Good" functioned as a reinforcer for about 1/4 of the Ss in this study. The most important factor contributing to performance was awareness of the response-reinforcement contingency. Also, reinforcement tended to be more effective when Ss had no (instead of a S-min) preexperimental interview with E. Medium-operant-level pronouns were conditionable, and results of conditionability comparisons between high- and medium-preference pronouns depended upon how performance was measured. The negligible conditionability of high-preference pronouns was discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patterns of parental childrearing and subsequent vulnerability to cognitive distu bance.

Research with normals and schizophrenics has indicated the importance of maternal childrearing control and nurturance. The 1st experiment tested whether patterns of maternal control and nurturance would relate to the son's subsequent cognitive performance under conditions involving social censure. Ss were 63 college males. Ss rating their mothers as highly controlling-low nurturant (rejecting pattern) were poorer in conceptual performance than Ss whose mothers were rated as low controlling-highly nurturant (accepting pattern). The same results were obtained when 74 males were divided into paternal childrearing pattern groups and their conceptual performance compared. It was proposed that social censure elicits responses which interfere with effective cognitive performance in Ss whose rejecting childrearing histories have mediated low self-esteem. (1 p. ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in cognitive abilities and brain organization: I. Sex and handedness differences in ability.

Analyzed data on cognitive abilities from 3 samples of normal Ss: (1) 195 undergraduates, (2) 215 18–30 yr old newly married couples, and (3) 122 pairs of monozygotic and dizygotic twins (aged 12–38 yrs). Findings reveal a common Sex by Handedness by Reasoning-Ability interaction: For Ss with above-median reasoning ability, spatial scores of left-handed males were reduced but those of left-handed females were raised, relative to their right-handed counterparts; the opposite pattern was found for Ss with below-median reasoning ability. The dependence of handedness effects on reasoning ability level appears to explain some of the inconsistent findings in the literature. Verbal fluency, perceptual speed, and visual memory also showed sex and handedness effects, which often interacted with level of reasoning ability or other cognitive variables. Results strongly suggest that sex and handedness differences in cognitive ability are partly neurological in origin. Variations in the effects of handedness across levels of reasoning ability (or other abilities) may indicate that different trade-offs among structural, and thus cognitive, characteristics will be found in different subsamples: There may be many kinds of normal brain organization. (French abstract) (98 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of labels on the perception and discrimination learning of retardates.

Assessed the role of labels in perception in 54 familial retardates and 48 normal IQ children at 2 matched MA levels. 3 experimental manipulations were employed at each level in a factorial design. 1 group learned to associate a common label to random visual forms; a 2nd group learned distinctive labels to the same forms; finally, a 3rd group viewed the forms without labels. Following verbal training, all Ss received perceptual judgment and discrimination-learning tasks. No significant differences emerged between the retarded and normal Ss on paired-associate learning, discrimination learning, or perceptual accuracy without labels. In contrast to the normal children, however, the retardates' perceptual and learning processes were relatively unaffected by the learning of verbal levels. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical patterns of defense as revealed in visual recognition thresholds.

To test the relationship between characteristic mode of cognitive reactivity to conflict-arousing stimuli in a laboratory situation as compared with life in general, Ss (adult male hospitalized psychiatric patients between 21 and 45) were placed in one of 3 categories, which reflected characteristic modes of dealing with conflictual ideas and feelings (externalizers, internalizers, acting-outers). Ss were then presented with visual stimuli (words and pictures) geared to heighten conflict arousal; capacity for recognition was measured by the level of illumination required for identification of the stimulus. The results indicated that externalizers and acter-outer demonstrated lower thresholds of recognition for conflictarousing (sexual, aggressive, dependent) stimuli than for neutral ones, and internalizers revealed higher thresholds. No relationship was found between specific conflict area or psychiatric diagnosis and perceptual mode. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The affiliation motive and perceptual sensitivity to faces.

An attempt was made to predict from imaginative measures of the affiliation motive the frequency with which S selects human faces from similar but nonhuman figures in a perceptual task. The Ss were 93 male undergraduates who responded to pictures with imaginative stories scored for n Affiliation. A month later they were introduced to the perceptual task which required that they state which of 4 figures flashed on a screen was clearest, all stimuli being below the recognition threshold. On each trial 1 of the 4 stimuli was a face and the others were similar but affiliation-neutral. Ss high in n Affiliation recognized faces significantly more frequently than those low in n Affiliation. Thus, the predicted relationship between motivation and the perceptual selection of motive-relevant stimuli was supported. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A genetic approach to the interpretation and evaluation of the process-reactive distinction in schizophrenia.

The hypothesis tested was that schizophrenics manifesting the "process" syndrome show more regressive and immature thought processes than those showing the "reactive" syndrome. 24 male and 27 female hospitalized schizophrenics who were newly admitted served as Ss. Social history data were evaluated in terms of the process-reaction dimension and their psychological test results were evaluated for thought processes. Instruments used were the Elgin Prognostic Scale, Rorschach, and Benjamin Proverbs. A significant correlation was found between the Rorschach genetic level score and the Elgin Prognostic Scale for male and female Ss. Only for the male Ss was the hypothesis confirmed with the Proverbs test. 29 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improvement in the performance of schizophrenics on concept formation tasks as a function of motivational change.

108 schizophrenics and 36 normal Ss were divided into a noise and a control group and matched for intelligence. Concept formation tests involving social and formal concepts were then administered under the experimental conditions. "Under the conditions of escape from aversive stimuli [white noise], schizophrenics who took the concept formation tests under the usual conditions of psychological testing performed at a level both inferior to and significantly differentiated from the normals and the more motivated schizophrenics." 22 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)