The Clock Drawing Test, a task sensitive to cognitive decline in neuro
logical groups, was administered to 27 patients with schizophrenia. Cl
ock drawings were scored for over-all global performance and the frequ
ency of specific qualitative errors. Mean global performance scores in
dicated a small proportion of the sample was below the threshold typic
ally used to identify dementia, and the patients displayed qualitative
Clock Drawing deficits not fully represented in the global performanc
e measure. Qualitative analyses indicated that size errors, graphic di
fficulty, and spatial planning problems were most common. Lastly, dura
tion of illness was not related to global performance, suggesting that
the latter might not reflect deterioration but the stable trajectory
of impairment that may be constant through the schizophrenia illness.