| Abstract: | Tested L. J. Chapman's hypothesis that contextual constraints are less salient, and stronger meaning constraints more salient for schizophrenics than for normals, as was the hypothesis drawn from the works of K. Salzinger and of R. L. Cromwell and P. R. Dokecki that schizophrenics are overly constrained by immediate cues relative to distant ones. Ss were 3 groups of males at a VA hospital: 25 normal controls, staff members; 22 hospitalized controls, nonschizophrenic patients; and 71 schizophrenics. The Chapman hypothesis was supported only for disorganized schizophrenics and only when the ambiguous element being considered was lexical. The immediacy hypothesis was supported with regard to semantic constraints. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
