Motor Impersistence in Schizophrenia

Abstract

This study compared the performance of Process and Reactive Schizophrenic, Brain-Damaged, and Control patients on tasks assessing degree of motor impersistence. The following results were obtained: 1) The Process subgroup of Schizophrenics did not differ significantly from the Reactive subgroup with regard to overall incidence of motor impersistence. 2) The combined Schizophrenic group showed a somewhat higher total incidence of motor impersistence than did the Control group, and a somewhat lower incidence than did the Brain-Damaged group, these differences being at a near-significant level. No patient in the Schizophrenic group showed marked impersistence, while seven Brain-Damaged patients showed marked impersistence. This intergroup difference in the incidence of marked impersistence was significant. 3) Intelligence was inversely related to incidence of motor impersistence in the Schizophrenic group at a level which approached statistical significance. When the Schizophrenic group was compared with the Brain-Damaged group at each of two levels of intelligence, there was a trend for Brain-Damaged patients of low intelligence to show more impersistence than Schizophrenic patients of low intelligence. 4) The relationship between age and impersistence was found to be non-significant in the Schizophrenic, as well as in the Control and Brain-Damaged groups.