Recent papers have questioned the clinical value of the proverbs test as a test of thought disorder. This paper confirms that a simple proverbs test elicits disordered thinking, but may not discriminate between that of thought disordered schizophrenics and of manics. except that the manics tend to be more verbose.
References
1.
BannisterD.FransellaF. (1966). A grid test of schizophrenic thought disorder. Brit. J. soc. clin. Psychol., 5: 95.
2.
BenjaminJ. D. (1954). A method for distinguishing and evaluating formal thinking disorders in schizophrenia. In: KasaninJ. S. (Ed.) Language and Thought in Schizophrenia. University of California Press, Berkely and Los Angeles.
3.
CameronN. (1939). Schizophrenic thinking in a problem-solving situation. J. ment. Sci., 85: 1012.
4.
FreedmanA. M.KaplanH. I. (1967). Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry. Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore.
5.
MellsopG. W.SpelmanM. S.HarrisonA. W. (1971). The performance of manic patients on the ‘Grid Test for Schizophrenic Thought Disorder.’Brit. J. Psychiat., 118: 671.
6.
PayneR. W.HewlettJ. H. G. (1960). Thought disorder in psychotic patients. In: EysenckH. J. (Ed.). Experiments in Personality. Vol. II. Rout-ledge and Kegan Paul, London.
7.
ReedJ. L. (1968). The proverbs test in schizophrenia. Brit. J. Psychiat., 114: 317.
8.
SlaterE.RothM. (1969). Clinical Psychiatry. Baillière, Tindall and Cassell, London.
9.
TermanL. M.MerrillM. A. (1937). Measuring Intelligence. George G. Harrap, London.
10.
YatesA. J. (1956). The use of vocabulary in the measurement of intellectual deterioration — a review. J. ment. Sci., 102: 409.
