THOUGHT-DISORDER, PERCEPTUAL ABERRATIONS, AND SCHIZOTYPY

Empirical links between schizophrenia and schizotypic psychopathology were examined. The Perceptual Aberration Scale(PerAb; L. J. Chapman, J . O. Chapman, & M. L. Raulin, 1978) was used to identify putative schi zotypic individuals and a contrast group of nonschizotypic controls. T he Thought Disorder Index (TDI; M. J. Coleman et al., 1993) was used t o quantify and classify thought disorder in these individuals. High Pe rAb participants, selected for having an increased number of self-repo rted perceptual and body image aberrations, showed an elevation in the amount and frequency of thought disorder as well as an increased numb er of idiosyncratic verbalizations. This supports the hypothesis that psychometrically identified schizotypic individuals display thought di sorder similar to that shown by schizophrenic patients and some of the ir I st-degree relatives, suggesting that there is a relation between schizotypic psychopathology, as tapped by the PerAb scale, and clinica l schizophrenia.