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Abstract

The present research investigated the effect of enriched instructions on the verbal abstracting performance of a group of 18 recently hospitalized, acute schizophrenics. In addition, an attempt was made to determine if improved performance under enriched conditions was related to the kind of disturbances in attention measured by the Perceptual Experience Inventory. The results showed that the schizophrenics scored significantly lower than a group of hospitalized control subjects under normal testing conditions. As predicted, the schizophrenics improved under the enriched conditions to the extent of equaling the performance of the control group. It was apparent that schizophrenics do not suffer from a permanent defect in abstracting ability. It was suggested that enriched instructions help the schizophrenic to maintain the appropriate set. There was no support for the authors' attempt to link the effect of improved performance under enrichment to disturbances in attention and concentration. The implications for treatment were briefly discussed.

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Effect of Enriched Stimulus and Instructional Conditions on Verbal Abstracting Ability in Acute Schizophrenics

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