NUMERICAL TAXONOMY APPLIED TO LEONHARDS CLASSIFICATION OF ENDOGENOUS PSYCHOSES

Among the existing classifications in the field of psychiatry, Leonhar d's comprises 35 forms of endogenous psychoses, allowing a more precis e differentiation. Computer-assisted mathematical methods of numerical taxonomy, frequently used in other fields of biological sciences, wer e used to check its coherence, definitely proving its taxonomic validi ty. Numerical values were assigned to signs and symptoms described by Leonhard, taking into account their frequency and diagnostical importa nce. The resulting data matrix was processed, obtaining the dissimilit ude coefficients and the main components which validate Leonhard class ification. This method can be applied to other psychiatric classificat ions validating them or displaying their weaknesses.