REEXAMINATION OF THE LANGUAGE OF PSYCHOTIC SUBJECTS

To investigate whether language in schizophrenia deteriorated progressively, 11 schizophrenic subjects, 9 manic subjects and 9 controls were re-tested after an interval of three years using the computer-assisted syntactical analysis technique of Morice. In 13 of the 16 linguistic variables described as hallmarks of schizophrenic speech decline, deterioration was noted in schizophrenics in the direction predicted and relative to the manic and control gorups. The deterioration was most pronounced in complexity and integrity of speech. One variable remained unchanged and two (semantic variables) showed marginal improvement. It was concluded that language, and in particular syntax, does deteriorate in the schizophrenic process.