Related Experiment Videos
Manual and saccadic reaction time with constant and variable preparatory intervals in schizophrenia
T P Zahn1, B R Roberts, C Schooler
1Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1366, USA. ted_zahn@nih.gov
Journal of Abnormal Psychology
|May 30, 1998
Summary
Schizophrenia patients
Area of Science:
- Cognitive neuroscience
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Saccadic reaction time (RT) is often unimpaired in schizophrenia.
- This study investigates whether saccades rely on automatic processing, unlike manual RT.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine if saccadic reaction time (RT) is unaffected by controlled processing demands in schizophrenia.
- To compare manual and saccadic RT under varying preparatory intervals and sequences.
Main Methods:
- 49 schizophrenia patients and 34 controls performed manual and saccadic RT tasks.
- Tasks included preparatory intervals of 1, 3, and 5 seconds in regular and irregular sequences.
Main Results:
- Manual RT was slower in patients, with larger preparatory interval effects.
- Saccadic RT showed similar preparatory interval effects in both groups, with no significant group differences.
- Saccadic tasks exhibited no group differences in RT or preparatory interval effects.
Conclusions:
- Saccadic tasks may involve greater stimulus-response compatibility, reducing working memory demands.
- This explains why saccadic RT remains unimpaired in schizophrenia, unlike manual RT.