MEMORY IN SCHIZOPHRENIA AND AFFECTIVE-DISORDERS

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the stabiity of me mory and information processing in schizophrenics and affectively dist rubed patients. Twenty-two schizophrenics, eight affectives and 14 nor mal controls were tested twice, with an interval of approximately one year. Results showed that normals performed better than schizophrenics and affectively disturbed patients on almost all of the cognitive mea sures. The differences reached a level of significance on a reaction t ime test, a vigilance task and a long-term memory task. The only measu re where the difference did not reach a level of significance was on a short-term memory test. Groups' performance to some extent changed ov er time on most of the measures, but the changes were not significantl y different for different groups.