The cognitive structure of higher functioning autism and schizophrenia: a comparative study.
The purpose of this study was to examine whether performance on a standard cognitive test-battery can be used to clearly separate higher functioning autism from schizophrenia. Revised Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-R) or Adults (WAIS-R) profiles of 20 autistic and 20 schizophrenic adolescent young adult subjects matched for age, sex, and IQ level were contrasted. On average, autistic individuals had higher values on the subtest "Similarities," while schizophrenic participants scored better on "Comprehension." Discriminant analysis showed that a prognosis of the psychiatric classification can be made with 82.5% accuracy if all subscale data are considered. Even though this finding probably has limited merit for making judgements in clinical practice, it might be of exploratory value in the pursuit of differentiating autism and schizophrenia on a cognitive level.
Bölte
Sven
S
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
Rudolf
Liane
L
Poustka
Fritz
F
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014888:Wechsler Scales