Immediate versus sustained processing in schizophrenia.
A Stroop negative priming (NP) task was used to assess immediate selective attention and priming in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. Subject groups were comprised of 12 state hospital inpatients (41.8 +/- 7.5 years of age), 11 outpatients (39.8 +/- 7.5 years of age), and 16 controls (36.4 +/- 11.7 years of age). Compared with the control group and the outpatients, inpatients failed to exhibit NP [F(2,36) = 6.09, p < .01], despite exhibiting equivalent Stroop RT interference (p > .05). Error rates did not differ significantly between the 3 groups. Although medication types and dosages were similar between the 2 patient groups, length of illness was significantly longer in the inpatients (19.8 years) than in the outpatients (12.4 years; p < .05). Positive symptom ratings were also significantly higher in the inpatients. The finding of reduced NP in the state hospital patients appears to be related to severity of symptomatology and chronicity of illness.
Salo
Ruth
R
Department of Psychiatry and Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis 95616, USA. resalo@ucdavis.edu
Henik
Avishai
A
Nordahl
Thomas E
TE
Robertson
Lynn C
LC
D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003118:Color Perception / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents