SIZE ESTIMATION IN SCHIZOPHRENICS - A REVIEW AND REANALYSIS

Attempts to sort out the sources of some of the inconsistent findings in terms of a detailed examination of between-studies differences in task and S variables. It is concluded that acute good premorbid schizophrenics show small but consistent size underestimation. Acute poor premorbid schizophrenics show a small but reliable tendency toward size overestimation. Paranoid schizophrenics underestimate, while nonparanoids overestimate, stimulus size. Among all schizophrenic groups the effects of drug status and relative acuteness or chronicity are at present not well specified. More research on task variables such as memory and viewing time is clearly required. A reanalysis of some previous data indicates that schizophrenics did not differ from normals in perceptual accuracy. The question of attributing differences in size estimation to a sensory process is raised. The present theories of flexibility, scanning, and redundancy do not provide complete explanations of the data. With the relevant variables more precisely identified, progress toward a more complete theory may be made. (28 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.