Syntactic processing and written language output in first onset psychosis.
Written language samples from 45 schizophrenic patients were compared with those from 15 manics and 18 non-psychiatrically ill control subjects. We used the Hunt test to generate written language samples. This consists of 32 simple propositions describing the manufacture of Aluminum. Subjects are asked to rewrite the propositions in a more concise style. Analysis of the subjects' responses yields measures of syntactic complexity as well as syntactic and semantic errors. Schizophrenics performed as well as the other groups as far as complexity was concerned. This was quite unexpected, given the substantial evidence from speech studies that schizophrenic utterance is characterized by low syntactic complexity. Both patient groups also made more errors and had difficulty in integrating information successfully, compared with controls. Some of these differences were related to educational differences between the groups, as well as impairments in attention and working memory. A possible mechanism for these relationships is outlined. The results suggest that although working memory and attention have an important bearing on linguistic performance, there is in addition, a specific failure of language processing.
Thomas
P
P
Community Mental Health Team, Ysbyty Bron y Garth, Penrhyndeudraeth, Gwynedd, Wales.
Leudar
I
I
Newby
D
D
Johnston
M
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D011578:Psycholinguistics; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012564:Schizophrenic Language; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012660:Semantics; D014956:Writing