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The present study tests (1) Katan's (1960) theory that psychic conflict is critical in the development and manifestation of thought disorder and (2) Bannister's (1962) and Shakow's (1962) common tenet that inconsistency is a general characteristic of schizophrenics. The author used the Picture-Preference Test (PPT) to address these issues. To assess Katan's theory, the author created two picture-preference scales: (1) a Conflict Scale, containing pictures that were highly provocative of conflict and (2) a Non-Conflict Scale, containing pictures low in provocation to conflict. The author also used the original Thought Disorder Scale that had been developed by Rudzinski (1979). In these scales, each item was presented to the subjects twice. An Inconsistency score was calculated as the number of items on which the subject's choice on the first presentation of an item did not match his choice on the second presentation of that same item. Besides using the PPT scales, the author administered the Whitaker Index of Schizophrenic Thinking, the Grid Test of Thought Disorder, and the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Change Version (SADS-C). The author tested 43 nonparanoid schizophrenics and 43 mood-disordered patients in two psychiatric hospitals. Both the schizophrenic and the mood-disordered patients showed a greater breakdown of thought consistency on the Conflict Scale than they did on the Non-Conflict Scale. Overall, the data indicated that conflict may play a role in thought disorder, although not the central role that Katan (1960) had proposed in his theory. The data also fit with Bannister's (1962) and Shakow's (1962) notion that inconsistency is characteristic of schizophrenics. Inconsistency on each of the PPT scales and on the Grid Test discriminated the two diagnostic groups. Besides testing these theories, the author introduced new methods for scoring the Grid Test. The most promising of these were a Chi-Square index of the similarity of the two Grids and a Perseveration score. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings were discussed. The author argued that both the TD Scale and the new Grid scores could be useful in future research.Dept. of Psychology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1989 .G354. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-03, Section: B, page: 1107. Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1989. |
