Multivariate cognitive performance levels and response styles among paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenics.

This stujly examined paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenic performance on a battery of information processing measures spanning precategorical processing, short-tei|m memory, and long-term memory. Multivariate analyses of the multiple processing indexes revealed two performance dimensions. The first represented "processing efficiency" maximally separating the paranoids and nonpatients, with the nonparanoids falling in between. The second dimension reflected a response style of "propensity toward stating the presence of stimuli or stimulus properties," with the most extreme separation occurring between the paranoids (higher propensity) and nonparanoids. Though closer to the paranoids, the nonpatients fell between the two schizophrenic groups. Discussion draws on the bidimensional characterization of the paranoids and nonparanoids, as well as on their differential performance on individual measures.