A Comparative Study of Disordered Attention in Schizophrenia

Abstract

In recent years there has been increasing experimental evidence that specific disturbances of perception occur in schizophrenia. Reduced size constancy in schizophrenic patients has been reported in studies by Raush (13), Crookes (6), and Weckowicz (16). Further investigations by Weckowicz and his colleagues (17), have also demonstrated reduced distance constancy in schizophrenia. (The retinal image of an object alters proportionately with the distance at which it is perceived. Size and distance constancy refer to our normal ability to compensate for changes in the stimulus and thereby to retain a stable perception of the object.) Brengelmann (3) and Angyal (1) have shown that schizophrenic patients have difficulty in reproducing briefly exposed visual stimuli. Penrose (12) has shown that schizophrenics perform poorly in a variety of tests involving visual discrimination.