How do early stages of information processing influence social skills in patients with schizophrenia?

Persons with schizophrenia show deficits across a broad range of cognitive domains, and their social skill deficits are thought, to some extent, to be caused by cognitive dysfunction. In this study, we attempted to replicate the correlation between the early stages of information processing and non- verbal skills. Subjects for the study included 22 men and six women who met DSM-IV criteria for the diagnosis of schizophrenia. All subjects were atte nding a rehabilitation program at the day-treatment centers of their hospit als. Social skills were assessed using a structured role-play test. The Deg raded-Continuous Performance Test (CPT) and Span of Apprehension Test (SPAN ) were used. Non-verbal skills were significantly correlated with CPT-False Alarm Rate (the rate of commission errors of all trials) in multiple regre ssion analysis, but the receiving-processing skills did not have any relati on to CPT or SPAN score. Non-verbal skills may be related to early informat ion-processing deficiency, especially the response-inhibiting system. Recei ving and processing skills may be related to later stages of information pr ocessing, or may reflect not only 'molecular' stages of information process ing (less complex and less integration task in a continuum of complexity of cognitive processes) but also other factors such as social learning. (C) 1 999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.