| Abstrakt: |
Studies by Ax and Bamford (1970) and by Gruzelier and Venables (1972) showed that schizophrenics had faster electrodermal recovery rates than normals. This appeared paradoxical in view of the apparent association of fast recovery, with goal-oriented behavior. However, it seemed possible that their results reflected the greater effect of their aversive test situations on the control groups as compared to schizophrenics, since it has been shown that aversive stimuli tend to cause slowing of recovery. It was therefore predicted that for non-aversive stimuli and tasks demanding goal-orientation the results would be reversed and schizophrenics would have slower recovery rates than normals. The present study examined recovery rate for 28 hospitalized schizophrenics, free of medication, and 27 controls, under non-aversive conditions, i.e. mild stimuli, rest, or simple tasks, as well as one aversive situation, the cold pressor test. For the non-aversive situations, the schizophrenics had significantly slower recovery rates. For the aversive situation there was no significant difference. Results are consistent with the interpretation that schizophrenics usually have slower recovery than normals but may be less susceptible than normals to the slowing effects of aversive elements in the stimulus situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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