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Perceptual distraction in schizophrenia
Author(s) -
Watson Charles G.,
Kucala Teresa,
Wold Joyce,
Manifold Victor,
Kucala Diane,
Vassar Patricia
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/1097-4679(198809)44:5<674::aid-jclp2270440503>3.0.co;2-c
Subject(s) - distraction , psychology , stimulus (psychology) , perception , cognitive psychology , audiology , developmental psychology , neuroscience , medicine
The purpose of this project was to determine whether a distractibility deficit at the stimulus‐identification level could be identified in schizophrenics after distractor and non‐distractor conditions had been matched for difficulty ( N = 110). Process schizophrenics, reactive schizophrenics, and psychiatric controls were asked to identify tachistoscopically presented stimuli shown with and without distractors. The distractor and non‐distractor tasks were matched for difficulty beforehand by manipulating presentation intervals. The schizophrenics did not show more deficit under the distractor conditions than did the nonschizophrenic patients. Moreover, compared to psychiatric controls, the schizophrenics' performances were no more deficient under distractor conditions than under non‐distractor conditions, even before the tasks were matched for difficulty. These findings suggest that perceptual distractibility at the stimulus identification level is no more pronounced in schizophrenics than in nonschizophrenics, especially after difficulty is controlled.