[A study of recall and language characteristics in schizophrenia--via story schema analysis]

Our research studied the recall and language characteristics of schizophrenia via story schema. For this research there were three groups of subjects: (1) In the schizophrenia group (n = 27), the subjects, who have been inpatients for more than 3 years, were diagnosed as schizophrenic by 2 psychiatrists. (2) In the affective psychoses group (n-25), the subjects, who were inpatients or outpatients, were diagnosed by 2 psychiatrists. (3) Normal group (n = 29). The subjects of the schizophrenia group were matched with the subjects of the affective psychoses group or normal group by age and education. The subjects were individually tested. They heard a simple story, and did an inserting task, then recalled the simple story. The results were: (1) The story grammar (or story schema) of the schizophrenia group was the same as that of the normal or affective psychoses group. (2) There were primary effects and recency effects in the recall of the 3 groups, but there were large differences in the primary effects of the 3 groups while the differences in the recency effects were insignificant. (3) The correct recall rate of the normal group was higher than that of the affective psychoses group, but there were no significant differences between the affective psychoses and schizophrenia groups. The present study suggests that because the ability to recall story schema in schizophrenia is unimpaired, it is a valuable approach in studying thought disorders of schizophrenia when the structures of story schema are manipulated.