Effect of instructional cues on schizophrenic patients' performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test.
OBJECTIVE
Schizophrenic patients are particularly deficient on measures of executive functioning, notably the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. This study was conducted to determine the efficacy of a cuing strategy in facilitating performance on this cognitive measure of the integrity of prefrontal brain structures and functioning.


METHODS
Twenty-four schizophrenic inpatients and 24 demographically matched inpatients with mood disorders were administered the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test either with instructional cues at the beginning of the task or with the standard administration procedure.


RESULTS
There was a significant benefit of cues for the patients with affective disorders as well as for the schizophrenic patients. The schizophrenic subjects in the uncued condition maintained poor but stable performance throughout the course of the task.


CONCLUSIONS
The study suggests that the deficit in executive functioning of schizophrenic patients may lie in the formation of concepts, not in their application.
Goldman
R S
RS
VA Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48105.
Axelrod
B N
BN
Tompkins
L M
LM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003210:Concept Formation; D003463:Cues; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D014888:Wechsler Scales