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Mueller‐Lyer illusion and size estimation performance in schizophrenics compared to normal controls
Author(s) -
RUND BJØRN RISHOVD,
LANDRØ NILS INGE,
ORBECK ANNE LILL,
NYSVEEN GJERMUND
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1467-9450
pISSN - 0036-5564
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9450.1994.tb00943.x
Subject(s) - psychology , illusion , estimation , audiology , cognitive psychology , medicine , management , economics
A size estimation (SE) paradigm and the Mueller‐Lyer (ML) illusion were used to examine perceptual disturbances in schizophrenics. 35 reliably diagnosed (DSM III‐R) schizophrenics were compared to 20 subjects with no history of psychiatric illness. Perceptual distortions found in previous studies of schizophrenics were only to a certain extent confirmed in the present results. More overestimators were found among the schizophrenics than among the normals on the SE task. The schizophrenics, first of all the chronic patients, also proved to be more prone to the Mueller‐Lyer illusion. A reason why the very clear differences between schizophrenics and normals found in previous examinations were not confirmed in the present study, might be that a reliable diagnostic instrument was for the first time used in this kind of study.