[Schizophrenia and selective attention]

A comparative study of selective attention was made on 22 schizophrenic inpatients, 18 non schizophrenic inpatients and a control of 22 non psychiatric adults. Signs of schizophrenia were quantified through the BPRS (Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale) and selective attention was expressed as the capacity to resist a distracting stimulus dimension in the Stroop word-colour test. The results indicated higher distractibility in schizophrenic patients, and a positive, significative relation was found between this interference and the "activation" cluster.