The effects of sensory deprivation on verbal communication

Abstract

Ten normal subjects were given five cards of Singer and Wynne's modified Rorschach Test both before and after two hours of sensory deprivation. The main effect of the period of sensory deprivation was a significant increase in the word counts. There was a high correlation between the word counts and the Deviance scores, which also increased following sensory deprivation, but not significantly. The percentage increase in word count was highly correlated with the subjects' scores on the Schizoid factor of Cattell's 16 Personality Factor Inventory. There was no association between reports of hallucinatory experiences during sensory deprivation and either the the word counts or the Deviance scores. The word counts and Deviance scores of these normal subjects before sensory deprivation were closely comparable with those achieved by the fathers of neurotic patients in an earlier study by the authors. Following sensory deprivation, the normal subjects' measures became significantly higher than those of the fathers of neurotics and approximated to those of the fathers of schizophrenics. The results of this study and our previous one have led us to shift our attention from Singer and Wynne's method of scoring deviant communications to the factor of verbal responsiveness. Our observations on the relative verbosity of the fathers of schizophrenics and the increase in verbosity shown by schizoid subjects in response to sensory deprivation are intriguing in themselves. The link between verbal responsiveness and a personality factor that may lie on a continuum with schizophrenia is deserving of further study.