The appreciation of imagery by schizophrenics: an interpretation of Goldstein's impairment of the abstract attitude

Abstract

SYNOPSISThree experiments are reported in which schizophrenics are compared with other psychiatric patients on (i) the imagery value of words in their speech, (ii) their memory for words differing in imagery value, and (iii) their ability to distinguish the imagery value of two words. The study was designed to evaluate a neglected interpretation of Goldstein's ideas that schizophrenics are more concrete, in that their ‘action is determined by momentary sense impressions’. The results gave no support for this interpretation and it is suggested that an abnormal way of categorizing the world is more likely to be a useful way of formulating Goldstein's ideas.

Habitual Visualizer/Verbalizer Cognitive Style: The Impact of Anxiety and Depression

“…Their thinking can become preoperational, egocentric, and sometimes animistic" [25, p. 83]. In fact, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-4th Edition (DSM-IV) criteria for depression includes "diminished ability to think or concentrate" [26, p. 327] and studies, such as those undertaken by Costello [27], Cutting and Ryan [28], and Slife and Weaver [29], have reported impairment of verbal reasoning and metacognitive deficiencies in depressed patients. A similar presentation is seen among anxious patients where, according to Beck and Emery [30], the presence of high levels of hypervigilance severely limits ability to focus on specific tasks or to engage in reflective thinking.…”