skills training: $he effects of behavior rehearsal in groups on dating skills. Journal of Cmnaeling Psychology, 1975, 22, 224-230. MAHER, B. (ED.) . Clinical psychology and personality: Tha seleckd papers of George Kelly. New York: John Wdey, 1969. OSQOOD, C. E. Speculation on the structure of interpersonal intentions. Behavkmd Sci.5nca, 1970, PHILLIPB, E. L. The social skiue basis of psychopathology: Alterndiues lo abnormal psychology and psychdtry.Previous research indicates that many brain-damage screening tests lack the ability to se arate organic from functional patients at a satisfactory level. However the 8mith Symbol-Digit Modalities Test, the Benton Visual Retention +eat, the Background Interference Procedure variation of the Minnesota Percepto-Diagnostic Test, and the MMPI Psychiatric-Organic scale have shown some promise in earlier studies. Their abilities to separate braindamaged patients from five functional samples in a psychiatric setting were com ared here. The Smith proved capable of discnrmnating organics from all &nctional eamples both before and after demographic matching. The Benton and the Minnesota Percepto-Dia nmtic Test se arated our organics from our functional groups before mat$ng, but res& with them after matchin were unencouraging. The P-0 scale separated the organics from four of &e five functional samples before matchin and two afterward. The combined use of the P-0 and Smith provided a hig%er level of discrimination than that attained with either alone, correctly identifying 90% of the organics and 79% of the functional Ss. CHERYLBURANENANDJOYCEWOLD

The purpose of this project was to determine whether a distractibility deficit at the stimulus‐identification level could be identified in schizophrenics after distractor and non‐distractor conditions had been matched for difficulty (N = 110). Process schizophrenics, reactive schizophrenics, and psychiatric controls were asked to identify tachistoscopically presented stimuli shown with and without distractors. The distractor and non‐distractor tasks were matched for difficulty beforehand by manipulating presentation intervals. The schizophrenics did not show more deficit under the distractor conditions than did the nonschizophrenic patients. Moreover, compared to psychiatric controls, the schizophrenics' performances were no more deficient under distractor conditions than under non‐distractor conditions, even before the tasks were matched for difficulty. These findings suggest that perceptual distractibility at the stimulus identification level is no more pronounced in schizophrenics than in nonschizophrenics, especially after difficulty is controlled.

Von Domarus and Arieti have theorized that failure to reason by conventional logical rules is at the root of schizophrenic thought disorder, but the available research on this view is inconclusive. We compared the performance of schizophrenics (N = 100), brain‐damaged patients (N = 50) and psychiatric controls (N = 50) on closely meatched measures of Overexpansive and “Von Domarus” (similarity implies identity) syllogistic reasoning errors. Before the samples were matched for education and intelligence, the brain‐damaged and schizophrenic patients made more Overexpansive errors than the controls, but the Von Domarus error difference was not significant. After matching, both differences were nonsignificant. The results indicate that inability to use syllogistic reasoning properly is probably not the root cause of schizophrenic thought disorder.

No abstract

Broen and Storms have developed a popular behavioristic theory t.0 explain schizophrenic thought disorder. It holds that thought disorder results from schizophrenics' having higher drive levels and lower res onse-strength ceilings than non-schizophrenics. As a result, the strength o r appropriate (usually strong) res onses is rivaled by that of inappropriate, ordinarily-weak responses. TI%, in Broen and Storms' the0 is the cause of disorganized, schizophrenic behavior. We tested several T y otheses derived from Broen and Storms' assumptions that schizophrenics Rave higher drive and lower response strength ceilings than controls in a paired-associates learning study. We did not find support for our hypotheses that schizophrenics would show better early-trials learning than controls, that a presumably drive-inducing threat of pain would enhance early trials learning in schizophrenics or controls that either threat of pain or schizophrenia would be associated with a low /earning asymptote, or that either the ositive or ne ative effects of pain would be accentuated in schizophrenics. %he results $id not support the theory. (1961, 1964, 1966) have proposed a Hullian theory in which cognitive deficit in schizophrenia is attributed to the high drive levels and/or low response strength ceilings believed to characterize schizophrenics. While high drive levels ordinarily would strengthen both appropriate and inappropriate responses, the low ceiling limits the strength of the appropriate, generally strong, ones to a greater degree than it does those of weaker, inappropriate behaviors. Thus, the high drive level tends to increase the strength of the weaker, inappropriate responses more than it does those of stronger, appropriate behaviors in schizophrenics. Disorganized, schizophrenic behaviors result. This ingenious, authors are indebted to $eresa Kucala for her contributions to this research. Broen and Storms