Associative interference in schizophrenia as a function of paranoid status and premorbid adjustment.

Administered a sorting task and a paired-associates-learning task, which included a built-in associative interference factor, to 80 hospitalized white male chronic schizophrenics, divided by paranoid or nonparanoid status and good or poor premorbid adjustment, and matched for age and education. Results added support to the associative interference theory concerning psychological deficit in schizophrenia. This was more pronounced in the case of the sorting task than the paired-associates-learning task perhaps because the latter is confounded by a strong memory factor. Findings also indicate that paranoid and premorbid status interactively affect performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factorial structure and prognostic significance of premorbid adjustment in schizophrenia.

A sample of 291 resident male schizophrenic patients were rated on the Becker revision of the Elgin Prognostic Scale and on the Phillips Prognostic Rating Scale. 28 items drawn from both scales were factor analyzed. The factors were rotated to both varimax orthogonal solution and to biquartimin oblique solution. The 2 methods yielded a high degree of factorial similarity. 7 factors were: I, Social Withdrawal, Few Interests; II, Inadequate Heterosexual Relationships; III, Socially Undesirable Ward Behavior; IV, Rigid, Flat Affect. and Apathy; V, Insidious Onset; VI, Stubborn and Egocentric; and VII, Chronic Poor Physical Health. Correlations with a measure of chronicity (for 3 social class groupings) indicated that Factors I, II, III, and V have important prognostic power. These findings emphasize the need for a multivariate research approach to premorbid adjustment and the inclusion of the new and prognostically significant Factor III (Socially Undesirable Ward Behavior). (27 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Size estimation in schizophrenia as a function of censure, diagnosis, premorbid adjustment, and chronicity.

72 male schizophrenics divided in terms of chronicity, diagnosis, and premorbid adjustment estimated the size of a line embedded in different affective and neutral content. The main result was that premorbid adjustment and chronicity interacted in size-estimation performance with the good, premorbid-adjustment group exhibiting a smaller size estimation in the chronic condition than in the acute, while the poor, premorbid-adjustment group exhibited the opposite effect. Although a Premorbid Adjustment * Chronicity interaction was predicted in previous work, the specific over- or underestimation tendency found for each schizophrenic subgroup differed from those previously predicted. The differences in the present results and predictions derived from a review of the literature are discussed in terms of possible difficulties inherent in making inferences from studies which did not directly control the relevant subject dimensions. Results indicate little support for the social-censure hypothesis and suggest the greater effect of organismic variables relative to stimulus variables in predicting schizophrenic task performance. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex and dominance cues in good-poor premorbid schizophrenia.

60 poor and 60 good premorbid schizophrenics and 60 psychiatric technicians (controls) heard 1 of 3 tape recordings portraying differing patterns of parental dominance while responding to a task requiring them to support either the maternal or paternal figure in the interactions they heard. Poors tended to support the maternal figure regardless of her dominance characteristics while goods tended to support whichever parental figure was dominant in an interaction. Controls tended to support the parental figure who was not dominant in an interaction. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associative response competition in schizophrenia.

Investigated S. A. Mednick's (see 33:5) hypothesis that schizophrenics are especially susceptible to weak associative response competition. Groups of schizophrenics and undergraduates (15 per group) each learned 1 of 3 paired-associate word lists. Weak intralist assocative response competition was varied across the lists. Results showed a general performance inferiority for the schizophrenic groups. A significant list effect was also found with several of the learning measures. There was no support for the hypothesis, however. Normal and schizophrenic Ss were equally affected by the response competition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Priming effects in schizophrenia: Associative interference and facilitation as a function of visual context.

Irrelevant stimuli that flank a fixated target may cause either facilitation or interference with target classification. 20 schizophrenic patients, 20 depressed control patients, and 20 normal control Ss were compared on a flanker priming task that involved the linear display of a target surrounded by 2 flanking letters or digits. Choice reaction time (RT) between letter and digit targets was examined as a function of flanker condition and onset asynchrony between flankers and target. Facilitative priming occurred only with prior exposure of flankers compatible with the response required and was greater in degree with schizophrenic and depressed than with normal Ss. Interference from flankers incompatible with the response required occurred less among schizophrenics than among other groups. Several different processes may be involved in the inhibition of irrelevant information by schizophrenics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associative interference effects in recognition and recall.

The results of 3 studies testing whether associative interference occurs in recognition as it does in recall are reported. Associative interference was found as expected in cued recall, but it did not occur in recognition. Rather, in recognition, both the hit rate and the false alarm rate increased under interference conditions so that there was no net change in discrimination. The design of the recognition studies enabled the rejection of displaced backward rehearsals and variance differences in the matching strengths of interference and noninterference pairs as artifactual explanations of the results. The presence of associative interference in recall, but not in recognition, supports the distinction put forward by the global matching models of recognition that there is a fundamental difference between the memory access processes underlying recognition and recall. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation between current diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia and the dimensions of premorbid adjustment, paranoid symptomatology, and chronicity.

46 broadly defined schizophrenics were diagnosed according to 7 current diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia, and the subtyping dimensions of premorbid adjustment, paranoid symptomatology, and chronicity were assessed. Despite the minimal overlap between many of these criteria, samples selected by each of these systems were comparable in terms of the 3 subtyping dimensions. Results indicate that patients diagnosed as schizophrenic by each of these criteria were similar to schizophrenics who failed to meet those particular criteria with respect to premorbid adjustment, paranoid symptomatology, and chronicity. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Skin conductance basal level and reactivity in schizophrenia as a function of chronicity, premorbid adjustment, diagnosis, and medication.

Examined the skin conductance basal level and GSR of 384 male schizophrenics divided into subgroups according to chronicity, premorbid adjustment, diagnosis, and medication. 10 male psychiatric aides served as normal controls. Results indicate that basal level differences between schizophrenic subgroups or between schizophrenics and normals were mainly due to long-term institutionalization. The novelty of the experimental situation, as contrasted with the usual minimal stimulation domicile of the chronic patient, resulted in extensive responsivity not exhibited by the acute schizophrenic, other hospitalized patients, or normals. An interaction of premorbid adjustment and diagnosis within the chronicity subgroups was also found. The GSR differences between schizophrenic subgroups were primarily due to begin on or off medication, and this was mainly evident in the premorbid adjustment grouping. The results of an examination of social censure stimulus effects were not supportive of a social censure hypothesis. (35 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Commonality of word associations and good and poor premorbid schizophrenia.

Forty poor premorbid and 32 good premorbid schizophrenics were administered the Kent-Rosanoff Word Association Test from which commonality scores were derived. No significant differences were found between these 2 groups until length of hospitalization was included in the analysis. Differences were significant only in those groups whose Ss had been hospitalized over 5 years, although a trend is apparent in the groups hospitalized between 1 and 5 years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Premorbid adjustment and paranoid-nonparanoid status in schizophrenia.

Using 98 schizophrenics, good premorbids were found to be evenly distributed regarding paranoid vs. nonparanoid symptomatology. Poor premorbids were predominantly nonparanoid and rarely paranoid. However, paranoids were predominantly good premorbids, whereas nonparanoids were distributed between good and poor premorbids. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Premorbid adjustment and affective expression in schizophrenia.

Randomly selected 2 samples composed of 25 process and 25 reactive schizophrenics. There were no significant differences among the groups either in mean age or education. Mmpi deviation scores were obtained for each s by subtracting s's mean clinical scale score from each of the 9 mmpi clinical scales. Reactive ss had significantly (p     

Associative disturbance as a function of chronicity in schizophrenia.

47 male schizophrenics hospitalized from 8 days to 21 yr. 5 mo. were tested for signs of associative disturbance by means of a word association task. 3 measures of associative behavior were employed: "over-all" associative behavior, "most common" associative behavior, and "least common" associative behavior. The extent of discrepancy between the performance of the experimental group and that of a norm sample suggested that associative disturbance is more prevalent in the chronic stages of schizophrenia than in the acute stages. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment of premorbid social competence in schizophrenia: A methodological note.

The developmental theory underlying the Zigler-Phillips Social Competence Scale ({ZPSCS}; Zigler & Phillips, 1961) has important implications for using the scale to assess premorbid adjustment in schizophrenia. Many studies using the {ZPSCS} have scored the scale in an inconsistent manner or have not clearly limited the premorbid period to that prior to the onset of illness. {ZPSCS} ratings of social competence change over time, therefore studies using the {ZPSCS} should attend closely to the definition of the premorbid period and indicate whether premorbid or current adult social competence is being assessed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Meaning dimensions and male-female voice perception in schizophrenics with good and poor premorbid adjustment.

This study explored certain aspects of perceptual distortion in schizophrenia. Among schizophrenics with a good premorbid adjustment, schizophrenics with a poor premorbid adjustment, and normals, auditory perception of spoken material was compared as a function of (a) sex of voice and (b) dimensions of meaning. The Ss listened to successive presentations of a recorded spoken word, mixed with decreasing amounts of masking noise, until their recognition threshold were established. Schizophrenics with poor premorbid adjustment responding to the female voice had significantly higher thresholds than those responding to the male voice. This finding did not occur in schizophrenics with good premorbid adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associative interference in the verbal learning performance of schizophrenics and normals.

Groups of recently admitted VA schizophrenics and VA nonpsychiatric patients (17 per group) were given 1 of 2 paired-associate lists. The experimental list consisted of pairs in which each stimulus had a minimal assocative connection with its response but was highly associated with another response on the list, as judged by word association norms. Comparisons of performance on this list with that on a parallel control list indicated that the presence of the cross-associates resulted in significant performance decrement (p     

Associative interference in the paired-associate learning of remitted and nonremitted schizophrenics.

This experiment replicates a previous study which showed that recently hospitalized schizophrenics and normals did not differ in susceptibility to associative interference. 80 long-term schizophrenics were divided into remitted and nonremitted groups according to current mental status. The nonremitted Ss tended to exhibit more associative interference than either the remitted Ss or the normals in the previous study (.05     

Electrodermal nonresponding, premorbid adjustment, and symptomatology as predictors of long-term social functioning in schizophrenics.

The hypothesis that electrodermal nonresponsiveness to orienting stimuli delineates a core group of "Kraepelinian" type schizophrenics was tested by following up social functioning outcome over a 2-year period in 37 schizophrenics. Good social functioning outcome required both some self-supporting ability in the job market and a minimal social life. The prior assessments included monitoring of electrodermal responses to a series of moderately intense tones, ratings of reported and observed symptoms during an interview, and ratings of premorbid adjustment on the basis of an interview with a close relative. Electrodermal nonresponding, poor premorbid adjustment, and negative symptomatology predicted poor social functioning during the second follow-up year, but the relationship to nonresponding pertained exclusively to a group of 15 first-episode patients. Discriminant analysis showed that electrodermal nonresponding and symptoms were the only independent predictors of outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relation between premorbid competence and paranoid-nonparanoid status in schizophrenia: A methodological and theoretical critique.

Reviews empirical studies of the relation between premorbid social competence and paranoid-nonparanoid status in schizophrenia. The inconsistent findings in this area of research are noted, and positive vs negative findings are discussed in terms of methodological differences and difficulties, particularly the problem of heterogeneity in the diagnostic categories investigated. The explanation is advanced that good premorbid competence and the symptoms leading to a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia are both reflections of a higher developmental maturity level. Theoretical considerations concerning the paranoid-nonparanoid distinction in schizophrenia, the premorbid social competence construct, and the importance of the relation between these 2 concepts are presented. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Therapeutic expectations, premorbid adjustment, and manifest distress level as predictors of improvement in hospitalized patients.

Evaluated voluntary admissions to an open psychiatric ward (N = 49) at intake and discharge in order to determine whether improvement had occurred in faulty coping styles (ego weakness). Self-report, therapists', and supervisory staff ratings were used to assess change. 26 Ss were rated by consensus to be improved, and 23 were rated to be unchanged. 3 sets of variables were used to predict favorable outcome: (a) minimal patient expectations that the therapist would be uncaring, unstructuring, and insensitive; (b) staff ratings of good premorbid social adjustment; and (c) high initial level of manifest distress as judged by self-report, therapist, nurse, and staff evaluations. The multiple correlation for these predictors associated with favorable outcome was .59 (p