A critique of Hoffman's analysis of schizophrenic speech.
In a recent paper (R. E. Hoffman, L. Kirstein, S. Stopek, & D. V. Cicchetti, 1982, Brain and Language, 15, 207-233), Hoffman et al. outlined a method of analyzing schizophrenic speech. This method is briefly described. When this method was applied to transcripts of psychotic speech in a subsequent study, major flaws in the system became evident. Despite its claims to be a semiobjective method there are still a great deal of intuitive judgments involved and the analyst has to make numerous ad hoc decisions. This applies particularly to the determination of deviance in a transcript.
D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008960:Models, Psychological; D012564:Schizophrenic Language; D013060:Speech