Cognitive controls and psychopathology.

Studied 90 psychiatric inpatients (nonpsychotic, nonschizophrenic psychotic, schizophrenic) and 35 normal controls to (a) determine whether some of the traditional cognitive controls could be isolated in these patients and (b) evaluate whether various diagnostic groups differed from each other and from normals in terms of these congitive controls. Ss were administered a battery of cognitive control tasks (e.g., the Phillips Scale of Premorbid Adjustment, WAIS, and Rorschach tests). With age, socioeconomic status, and verbal IQ as covariates, the factor structure for the total group was similar to that reported in other studies of cognitive control organization in the normal population. Schizophrenic and other psychiatric patients were not characterized by distinctly different organizations of cognitive controls. Although patients showed specific areas of cognitive dysfunctions, these seemed to be related to degree of disorganization. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Curative caring: The use of buddy groups with chronic schizophrenics.

Investigated the utility of altruism as a basis for group therapy treatment of long-term schizophrenic patients. 36 chronic male patients (mean age 41.03 yrs) were assigned to 1 of 3 group conditions: an altruistic (buddy-oriented) group, a traditional (self-oriented) group, or a no-treatment control group. Outcome results following 6 wks of therapy suggest that the altruistic group (which focused each member's attention on the facilitation of his buddy's discharge from the hospital) was more effective than the self-oriented or no-treatment groups, as measured by discharge and recidivism rates. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)