Choice reaction time performance in hospitalized schizophrenic patients and depressed patients

The choice reaction time performances of matched groups of hospitalized patients diagnosed schizophrenic or depressed were compared with normal controls to test a hypothesis concerning thought disorder specific to schizophrenia. Both patient groups were abnormal compared to controls providing evidence inconsistent with the diagnostic specificity issue. The results are discussed in terms of cognitive dysfunction in depression, the effects of institutionalization and the problems of diagnostic heterogeneity.