Response-contingent learning in children at risk

Ninety-nine male offspring at ages 7 and 10, from schizophrenic, affective psychotic, nonpsychotic patient, and normal control parents performed a nonsense syllable discrimination task administered under each of three reinforcement conditions: neutral information feedback, and two response-contingent conditions, praise and censure. Index (patient) parent diagnosis was determined using DSM-III criteria. Although the four groups did not differ significantly in mean number of errors in learning the task under the neutral condition, when reinforcement was provided by the subject's mother during both praise and censure conditions, schizophrenics' and nonpsychotic patients' offspring made significantly more errors than offspring of affective psychotics and normal controls. Either form of social reinforcement administered by the mother, or merely the mother's voice itself, had a disruptive effect on the learning efficiency of the offspring of schizophrenic and nonpsychotic patients. Chronicity and comprehensibility of these parent's disturbances are considered as possible explanations of their children's performance.