PERFORMANCE ON THE WISCONSIN CARD SORTING TEST IN SCHIZOPHRENIA - PERSEVERATION IN CLINICAL SUBTYPES

Results are reported from a neuropsychological investigation of a larg e group of schizophrenic patients (n = 141) and normal control subject s (n = 59) who performed the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). The s chizophrenic patients were divided into two DSM-III-R diagnostic subgr oups: paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenia. The performance of the W CST by schizophrenic patients was poor compared with-that by normal co ntrol subjects; furthermore, paranoid patients made a higher number of perseverative errors than did nonparanoid patients. The deficit in WC ST performance, which has been widely reported to characterize patient s with schizophrenia, appears to be related to the clinical profile an d neuropathological differences that contribute to the heterogeneity o f the disorder.