Intensity of imperative signal influences on redundancy deficit and latency in process schizophrenics

The resilience of the redundancy deficit pattern of schizophrenic reaction time performance was explored by examining the resistance of redundancy deficit to an experimental manipulation of imperative signal intensity. Aversive levels of stimulation have been used to alter motivation and shown to normalize schizophrenic performance in other research. In this study, 20 schizophrenic patients were administered a reaction time task under conditions of usual motivation and, 1 day later, under conditions of aversive motivation induced by high decibel levels of stimulation. The redundancy deficit pattern was observed with usual motivation but not with so-called biological motivation. The results are discussed from the points of view of the utility of redundancy deficit as an index of vulnerability to schizophrenia, implications for attentional and motivational theories of schizophrenia, and finally, in terms of the more general role of aversive stimulation in schizophrenic deficit. The finding that redundancy deficit is ameliorated by aversive motivation is consistent with theories suggesting that schizophrenics respond primarily to negative motivation. Garmezy's suggestion that the common denominator of the multiplicity of schizophrenic deficits may lie in motivational factors, particularly the prepotent avoidance motive, is supported by these results.