The British Journal of Psychiatry 130: 509-513 (1977)
© 1977 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

The effect of varying the rate of presentation on the information transmission of schizophrenic and control groups

OB Wijesinghe

Groups of subjects were tested on a paced serial reaction-time task in order to study the effect of varying the rate at which information was presented. The groups were: two groups of patients with acute schizophrenia but differentiated on the basis of primary symptoms, a group of institutionalized schizophrenic patients, a group of neurotic patients and a normal group. All groups showed a reduction in efficiency when the presentation rate was increased. The groups most adversely affected were the non-integrated and institutionalized schizophrenic patients. The integrated schizophrenic and the neurotic groups were affected to a lesser degree, the normal groups being least affected. These results favour a dimensional view of personal illness, in which deficits are most marked in patients with non-integrated schizophrenia.