Some cognitive correlates of schizophrenic illnesses.
A battery of tests was developed to assess verbal, non-verbal and mixed cognitive functions. Interest was based on pattern of response rather than absolute scores. The subjects were 167 men held in prison on criminal charges or in a maximum security hospital after conviction. The present paper deals exclusively with two subgroups: the 61 schizophrenic men and the 41 men with no psychiatric disorder. The schizophrenic group as a whole presented a very different cognitive pattern from the 'normal' men. First, with the exception of the vocabulary subtest of the WAIS, the schizophrenics were inferior on all tests, whether verbal, non-verbal or mixed function. Secondly, they showed considerably more variation within subtests. The schizophrenic sample was therefore subdivided into four clinical groups. Each showed a distinctive cognitive profile. It is argued that these cognitive differences reflect real differences in the disorder and type of illness being experienced by members of these subgroups.
D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D003702:Delusions / Q000523:psychology; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012564:Schizophrenic Language; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D014705:Verbal Behavior