Preferred interpersonal distance as a function of locus of control orientation in chronic schizophrenics, nonschizophrenic patients, and normals.

Used a new instrument, the Comfortable Interpersonal Distance scale, to reassess the relationship between psychopathology and interpersonal distance. It was predicted that, since schizophrenics are more external than normals and since externality has been shown to be related to greater preferred distance from others, 20 female schizophrenics theoretically should prefer greater distance, in general, from interpersonal stimuli. 20 female nonschizophrenic patients were included as controls for the "externalizing" effects of hospitalization. Results show that schizophrenics were more external than nonschizophrenics, who were more external than 20 normals. Preferred distance from interpersonal stimuli as measured by the Comfortable Interpersonal Distance scale was greatest for schizophrenics and least for normals. Implications for future research and treatment of schizophrenic patients are discussed. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rotations of visual designs in psychopathological groups.

Stimuli that systematically varied the figural and spatial orientational information of visual designs were administered under 2 conditions to 4 groups of 15 male Ss each. The groups were composed of normal, process and reactive schizophrenic, and brain-damaged Ss (mean ages-26.3, 42.3, 27.6, and 52.9 yrs, respectively). The stimuli were administered in a recall condition requiring reproduction of stimuli from memory and in a required rotation condition necessitating reproduction in a 90. clockwise rotation. Brain-damaged Ss had a greater tendency than other groups to rotate when a mental rotation was required, but they had a greater tendency to make errors indicating the loss of figural information when reproducing from memory. Process schizophrenics performed much like brain-damaged persons in recall but the same as normals in required rotation, suggesting that discrimination of these groups is possible. Normals produced the most rotations in recall, brain-damaged the least, and schizophrenics an intermediate number. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Visual versus tactual receptor preference in normal and schizophrenic children.

Receptor preferences between visual or tactual stimuli were measured in schizophrenic and normal children. 4 pairs of standardized choice situations between visual or tactual stimuli were used, with the time of engagement with either stimulus constituting the preference measure. Schizophrenic children, ages 7-9, were compared with same aged normal children. A group of retardates were used for MA control. Schizophrenics were significantly lower in visual preference than the same aged normals, and an age trend for increased visual preference was found in the normal sample. Retardates showed greater visual preference than schizophrenics of comparable MA. Some implications for theory of schizophrenia are discussed. (20 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The immediacy hypothesis and response-produced stimuli in schizophrenic speech.

Compared speech samples emitted by 10 schizophrenics individually matched with 10 normals and used them to test the validity of the immediacy hypothesis, which states that schizophrenics are primarily controlled by the immediate aspects of their environment, whether response-produced or external. The cloze responses of 230 undergraduates to the verbal samples indicated that schizophrenic speech consists of relatively short strings of words related to one another, while in normal speech the dependency of 1 word on another holds over longer spans. Results are interpreted to mean that schizophrenics have a greater tendency than normals to be controlled by immediate stimuli (in this case, response-produced), thus providing further evidence for the immediacy hypothesis. (20 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of weight intensity on discrimination thresholds of normals and schizophrenics.

20 male chronic schizophrenics, 12 chronic disturbed schizophrenics, and 20 normal controls were tested for upper difference limens from both a 40-gm (light) and 400-gm (heavy) standard weight. Weight discrimination thresholds were found to be significantly elevated as a function of severity of pathology in the schizophrenic groups and also at the lighter weight intensity. Both groups of schizophrenics showed significantly greater improvement than normals with the heavy weights. The less disturbed chronic schizophrenics were not significantly different from normals at the heavy intensity. The results support the hypothesis of a schizophrenic deficit in proprioceptive acuity and suggest that this deficit is the result of insufficient proprioceptive feedback. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Shift in judgment of weights as a function of anchoring stimuli and instructions in early schizophrenics and normals.

"A weight judgment task was administered to 16 schizophrenic patients and 16 normals for 2 sessions. The two groups did not differ from each other in ability to discriminate between the weight stimuli, but the schizophrenics shifted significantly more than the normals in the heavy anchor condition, thus providing evidence for the theory that schizophrenics are more prone to react to concrete than to abstract stimuli, as well as for the theory that schizophrenics are less able to maintain constancy in weight judgment than normals." 18 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associative strength as a mode of organization in recall and recognition: A comparison of schizophrenics and normals.

In 2 experiments, word pairs of high and low intrapair association were presented to a total of 40 schizophrenic and 40 normal adults. In Exp I, 1 member of each pair in both recall and recognition tasks was also displayed as a cue at the time of response. The number of words correctly recalled and recognized by both schizophrenics and normals was markedly greater for high-association lists. On high-association lists, schizophrenic performance was inferior to that of normals. The same lists were used in Exp II, which required the recognition of both words in each pair. Normal recognition was superior only for high-association lists. Results are interpreted as supporting the view that because schizophrenics did not subjectively organize or encode information when presented, subsequent retrieval was deficient. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychophysiological reactions to films by chronic schizophrenics: II. Individual differences in resting levels and reactivity.

Resting skin-resistance, heart-rate, and reactivity data to 1 of 2 tension-arousing films were obtained from 2 normal comparison groups and a sample of drug-free chronic schizophrenics. The schizophrenics were subdivided into 3 subsamples on the basis of the number of deviant associations given to a word-association test. The resting skin-resistance data failed to discriminate between normals and schizophrenics; however, meaningful differences were found among the schizophrenic subsamples such that increasing thought disturbance was associated with increasing basal resistance levels. Basal heart-rate data did indicate faster heart rate for all schizophrenic subsamples compared with both normal groups. Reactivity data also indicated different results for the 2 indexes. Skin-resistance indexes failed to indicate any differences between schizophrenics and normals or among the schizophrenic samples. 1 heart-rate index suggested less reactivity for schizophrenics than for normals. (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)     

Studies in efficiency: Semantic generalization in schizophrenia.

This study examined the hypothesis that schizophrenics would generalize a conditioned GSR response relatively more to the homonym of a CS and relatively less to the synonym than normals. The specific prediction was that the difference in the magnitude of response to synonyms and homonyms (RS - RH) would be greater for normals than for schizophrenics. The Ss were 16 normals and 16 chronic schizophrenics. The synonyms elicited a larger response than the homonyms with the majority of normal Ss. The opposite results were obtained with the schizophrenics. An analysis of variance clearly supported the hypothesized interaction between the "normal-schizophrenic" variable and generalization to synonyms and homonyms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Redundancy deficit in the reaction time of normal subjects under standard and meprobamate-impaired conditions.

Assessed latency and redundancy deficit, which reliably show impairment in process schizophrenics, using 20 normal Ss (mean age 30.4 yrs) with no psychiatric history. Ss were tested under standard/optimal and drug-impaired conditions to evaluate whether an expected increase in latency would be accompanied by a correlated increase in redundancy deficit. Ss completed RT trials in which they depressed and released a key in response to slides and a buzzer. Meprobamate was administered for the 2nd series of trials. In other research, the redundancy deficit index has been found to be independent of latency and has shown promise as a marker of schizophrenic information processing difficulty. The present findings confirm the independence of these 2 markers in that no increased redundancy deficit was observed despite a significant increase in latency. Findings also reveal a greater degree of redundancy deficit in normals under the optimal conditions than had been expected. A methodological problem with trial arrangements is discussed, and a review of studies that tested redundancy deficit in normal Ss is presented. (French abstract) (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitudes of schizophrenics and normals toward success and failure.

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that schizophrenics, as compared with normals, are relatively more highly motivated to avoid failure than to achieve success. A total of 291 Ss, including 136 hospitalized male schizophrenics, 103 normals, and--as a contrast group--52 neurotics, were administered the Success-Failure Inventory (SFI), a 22-item True-False instrument designed to assess attitudes toward success attainment and failure avoidance. As predicted, the schizophrenic samples manifested greater relative failure avoidance than the normals. Further, active schizophrenics evidenced greater relative failure avoidance than did remitted schizophrenics. Remitted schizophrenics and neurotics were not significantly different. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Word association repertoires of schizophrenics and normals.

The work association repertoires of 3 association responses of 20 poor and 20 good premorbid nonparanoid schizophrenics were not more deviant than those of 20 normals. There was significantly greater commonality in the 1st association response than in the 2nd response which, in turn, showed greater commonality than the 3rd response. These results suggest that schizophrenic language disorders are not due to overall language deficiency and partially support the disturbance viewpoint. A 3rd viewpoint is proposed, based on a 2-stage process involving nondeviant associations with inadequate cognitive controls as differentiating schizophrenics from normals. The hierarchical order for frequency given by the Russell-Jenkins norms obtains for both discrete and extended word association responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive factors in differential conditioning of the GSR: Use of a reaction time task as the UCS with normals and schizophrenics.

22 normals and 22 schizophrenics underwent differential conditioning of the GSR, using 8-sec tones of differing frequencies as the CSs, an 8-sec CS-UCS interval, and a UCS comprised of an RT task signaled by a low-intensity light. Both intertrial reports and postconditioning interviews were obtained. 12 Ss in the normal group verbalized the CS relations accurately, compared to 3 Ss in the schizophrenic group. The normal group showed significant GSR differentiation, though conditioning was limited to the group of accurately verbalizing Ss. No evidence for conditioning was obtained in the schizophrenic group. Normal Ss had faster RTs than schizophrenic Ss. The RT of accurately verbalizing normals was shorter than that of inaccurately verbalizing normals, and the degree of GSR differentiation was significantly correlated with RT. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motivation and performance in schizophrenia.

Schizophrenic patients and normals learned a series of motor responses to successively presented visual stimuli; the schizophrenics and normals were each divided into 2 groups, Shock and Rapport, matched on an initial test, Pattern I. The shock groups were each tested on two subsequent tasks, Patterns II and III. "The results showed a differential facilitative effect of the shock stimulation for the schizophrenic patients on Pattern III but not on Pattern II. The schizophrenic rapport group declined in efficiency from Pattern II to III, a result not seen in the shock group of patients or in either normal group. These findings were interpreted in terms of an inferred process of motivational dissipation during performance in schizophrenia." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Choice of association by schizophrenics as a function of probability.

Used a complex probability-learning paradigm in a study with 15 inpatient schizophrenics (mean age = 28 yr.) and 44 normal college students. An 80:20 and 60:40 probability ratio was used to establish 2 response hierarchies simultaneously. Only the 60:40 ratio discriminated the schizophrenics from normals: schizophrenics chose the primary association significantly more often. There are at least 2 interpretations possible: (a) schizophrenics differ from normals on associative chains lacking a strong primary association and respond by overemphasizing small differences, or (b) schizophrenics are less sensitive to exact probability cues and adopt arbitrary response ratios that recognize that 1 association is more probable than the other. Results support L. Chapman's conception of schizophrenia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recognition versus recall in schizophrenia.

Twenty-four schizophrenic and 24 normal Ss, 8 in each group being overinclusive and 16 non-overinclusive, were presented with two 20-word lists, one for free recall and one for recognition. The recognition alternatives were rhymes, synonyms, and synonym-rhymes of the various target words. Schizophrenics were poorer than normals in recall but not in recognition, and the ratio of recall over recognition was significantly greater for schizophrenics than for normals. The results of an analysis of the recognition errors suggested that the recall deficit of schizophrenics may be due to an inability to organize information for retrieval. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Phasic electrodermal orienting response in chronic schizophrenics: II. Response to auditory signals of varying intensity.

Studied phasic electrodermal orienting response (OR) to brief tones at 60, 75, or 90 db. Results support earlier findings obtained with brief visual stimuli both in retest and in newly recruited Ss among 72 clear and 72 confused chronic schizophrenics and 48 normal controls. Confused Ss showed diminished reactivity to stimuli of low to moderate intensity. A moderate increase in stimulus intensity significantly improved initial OR frequency among confused Ss without affecting response amplitude; further increase brought initial OR amplitude to normal levels. Chronic schizophrenics again showed consistently faster habituation than controls. Results are not attributable to particular diagnostic subgroupings or total time in hospital. While long-hospitalized Ss with a hebephrenic diagnosis are more likely to be confused, it is the fact of confusion itself that is significant in determining OR. Results suggest faster but less detailed assilimation of information among chronic schizophrenics in general, coupled with a defensive attenuation of specific input among confused patients in particular. (30 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Backward-masking performance in chronic and nonchronic schizophrenics, affectively disturbed patients, and normal control subjects.

There is ample evidence that schizophrenics exhibit a backward masking deficit. To what extent other psychotic patients are susceptible to visual masking is still an open question. Likewise, differences between subgroups of schizophrenics have to be further explored. In the present study, a computerized backward masking task was applied to 30 schizophrenics, 18 affectives, and 20 normals. Results confirmed previous findings of a performance deficit in the schizophrenics. However, affectively disturbed patients performed even poorer than the schizophrenics. The most outstanding finding when the group of schizophrenics was split into different subgroups was the significant differences that appeared between chronic and nonchronic patients. The latter group (n?=?8) performed as well as the normals, while the chronic schizophrenics (n?=?22) showed evidence of a performance deficit comparable to the affectives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)