No abstract

A visual-spatial approach to the study of attention dysfunction was presented. The hypotheses of broadened and narrowed attention were tested by comparing peripheral visual discrimination of acute schizophrenic, chronic schizophrenic, and normal subjects within two regions of the functional visual field. Pairs of visual stimuli were presented at four display angles. Measures of response accuracy, response latency, and latency of eye movement to peripheral stimuli were obtained. The data indicated that acute schizophrenics generally discriminated peripheral signals more accurately than chronic schizophrenics or normals. Normals discriminated signals more accurately than chronic schizophrenics. These results suggested the differential use of selective strategies. Limitations in the use of peripheral information among chronic schizophrenics implied a reduction in the amount of information transmitted in a selective act and a reduction in the economy of selective activities. In contrast to normals, acute schizophrenics utilized more efficient selective strategies over a greater spatial area, implying greater transmission of information within discrete selective acts. The data also indicated that schizophrenics initiated eye movements earlier than normals and that response latency was greater for acute schizophrenics than for normals. The results were interpreted as providing partial support for Venables's theory of input dysfunction.Numerous authors have suggested that a deficiency in selective attention is a primary feature of schizophrenia. However, knowledge of attention in psychopathological states and its relation to maladaptive behavior is regrettably poor. Qualitative evidence inferred

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract