[Cognitive disorders in endogenous psychoses]

Cognitive disorders of schizophrenics as well as subjects with affective psychosis were studied with the aid of 10 tests. Differences between schizophrenics and patients with affective psychosis could hardly be detected. Subgroup differences within the two broad diagnostic categories are pointing to the importance of the severity of illness. However, some differences between two small samples (N = 9) carefully matched with regard to several relevant aspects - especially concerning the severity of disorder - show that the diagnostic category is not wholly unimportant. Judged on the basis of these differences, there are probably no deficits of a fundamentally different nature; the assumption of divergent cognitive styles or defence mechanisms considering comparable basic deficits seems more plausible.