Activation and facilitation in the lexicon of schizophrenics.
45 schizophrenic patients of three different subtypes (chronic undifferentiated, schizoaffective and paranoid) and 15 normal control subjects completed a semantic priming version of the lexical decision task. Schizophrenic subjects demonstrated longer reaction times relative to normal controls; however, all of the subjects showed semantic facilitation effects. No significant differences in reaction times were found among the three schizophrenic subtype groups. These results suggest that initial sensory-perceptual processing is unimpaired in schizophrenia and thus provide evidence of intact automatic processing. The similarity in performance among the schizophrenic subtype groups refutes the theory of a paranoid/non-paranoid dimension at the initial level of automatic processing.
Chapin
K
K
University of Detroit, MI 48221-9987.
McCown
J
J
Vann
L
L
Kenney
D
D
Youssef
I
I
D001143:Arousal; D001288:Attention; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003657:Decision Making; D006801:Humans; D010153:Paired-Associate Learning; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D011930:Reaction Time; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012563:Schizophrenia, Paranoid / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012660:Semantics