Wisconsin Card Sorting Test deficits in schizotypic individuals

The present study investigates executive functioning in schizotypic college students and control subjects using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Inhibitory control and working memory, two aspects of executive functioning, were examined in deviantly high scorers on the Perceptual Aberration and Magical Ideation Scales (n=97), high scorers on the revised Social Anhedonia Scale (n=58), and in control subjects (n=104). The schizotypic groups displayed significantly more perseverative errors and achieved fewer categories than the control group. The two schizotypic groups did not differ from each other. We identified a subset of schizotypic individuals who also produced clinically deviant WCST profiles. The findings support the hypothesis that executive function deficits may precede the onset of schizophrenia and related illnesses. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.