Closed ward, open-ward, and former schizophrenic patients were compared with nonschizophrenic patients. Ss gave abstract interpretations for single proverbs and for sets of 3 proverbs, the proverb sets providing an enriched input condition. Schizophrenics with mild and medium degrees of psychosis showed improvement in abstract responses with enriched input. Nonschizophrenic and severely schizophrenic Ss showed no improvement. When input was adequate, deficit in abstract responses disappeared entirely for the mildly schizophrenic Ss. Severely schizophrenic Ss showed deficit on all tests.Although many studies show that schizophrenic patients perform at a significantly lower level than do nonschizophrenic subjects on abstracting tasks, some authors (Cameron, 1939;Hunt & Cofer, 1944;Lothrop, 1961) suggest that it is not abstracting ability as such that is lost. The apparent loss in abstract behaviors may be accounted for by a deficit in the communication process, either in information input or in the verbal expression of abstract concepts.In a previous study, Blaufarb (1962) enriched input. He presented sets of proverbs to his subjects, each set containing three different (concrete) proverbs, but all three calling for a single abstract interpretation. He compared performance on these proverb sets with performance on single proverbs. Since the proverbs in a set were each (concretely) unique, the procedure involved something more than mere stimulus repetition. The task message was enriched in meaning or presented redundantly.Blaufarb's study indicates that stimulus enrichment improves schizophrenic abstract responses but has no effect with normal subjects. This result suggests that schizophrenics do have an input deficit. The schizophrenic subjects, however, tended to score lower on both abstract tasks, on single proverbs, and (very slightly) on proverb sets. That is, the schizophrenics did show an input deficit, but perhaps also a primary loss in abstracting ability. Blaufarb justifiably emphasizes the input deficit and concludes that "chronic
SUMMARY One hundred nineteen epileptic former inpatients of the Boston Veterans Administration Hospital were interviewed and tested to evaluate their vocational adjustment since the onset of their seizures. The sample was restricted to males between 20 and 50 who had some adult work experience before developing seizures, and who had the onset of epilepsy more than three years prior to interview. The study excluded patients who had significant physical handicaps in addition to epilepsy, as well as those who had been treated for psychiatric disorders. Patients were classified as to severity of their seizure pattern, by means of a Work Suitability Scale. Personality and social history factors related to work adjustment were studied by means of a projective Sentence Completion test, an intelligence test, and a structured interview. Occupational adjustment in the two years preceding the first seizure was compared to that in the two years just prior to the interview. Ratings were based on the steadiness of employment, on the proportion of full‐time pay earned, on the frequency of job changes, and on the socio‐economic level of the occupation. The overall employment rate of 82% subdivides into a small group of 24 severe epileptics with a 50% employment rate and a larger balance of 95 subjects whose employment rate is 89%. The latter group, in turn, was made up of four levels of severity, according to the Work Suitability Scale. The most severe of these groups (52 patients) showed almost 50% decline in one or more of the indices of occupational adjustment i.e., steadiness, job changes, occupational level. The three mildest groups are uniform in their low (9%) unemployment rate and proportion of decline in occupational adjustment. The failure of the Sentence Completion test to discriminate those who adapted successfully is attributed to the restricted range of emotional disorders included in the sample. The 16 severe alcoholics in the study numbered among the most severe epileptics and accounted for one third of the totally unemployed. Premorbid training was also an important factor in the occupational prognosis, in that 37% of those who had unskilled occupations prior to seizures had been completely unemployed for the two years preceding their interview. Examining the circumstances under which the most severe epileptics continued to work revealed the existence of special sheltering conditions in every case. Of four who were unemployed, in spite of minimal seizures, all showed marked passive dependent traits and an accepting family setting. It is suggested that the group of epileptics having more than one grand mal seizure a month, without other complications, can profit the most from placement services. The cultivation of suitable job resources for this group is recommended. RÉSUMÉ 119 Épileptiques préalablement hospitalisés au “Boston Veterans Administration Hospital” ont été interviewés et soumis à des tests dans le but d'évaluer leur capacité de travail et son évolution depuis le début des crises. II convient de préci...
This study continues research whose purpose is to identify a deficit in information input that may be specific to schizophrenia. Scores on single-and multipleproverbs tests were analyzed to show effects of stimulus enrichment and practice gain in identifying this deficit. Previous studies differentiate normals and schizophrenics, demonstrate the deficit over a range of schizophrenic severity, and show that the deficit is independent of general loss of competence. The present study considers 60 subjects including normals, neurotics, brain-damaged patients, paranoid schizophrenics, and nonparanoid schizophrenics. Results indicate that the deficit is present over the paranoid-nonparanoid continuum; that it is absent in normals, neurotics, and brain-damaged patients; and that it is not a function of such intellectual factors as education and vocabulary.
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