The effects of stimulus modality on the projective responses of schizophrenic adults

Abstract: A group of twelve male and eighteen female chronic schizophrenic adults with a mean age of 61.5 were given an auditory projective test consisting of spoken, sung, and instrumental phrases. Responses were scored for degree of relatedness to the stimuli, abstract/concreteness, verbal productivity, and reaction time. Results indicated significant differences in relatedness of response between sung and spoken stimuli, and between sung and instrumental stimuli (p = < .001), favoring the sung stimuli. Significant differences were also found in reaction times to sung and spoken stimuli (p = < .01). No significant differences were found in abstract/concreteness of response to the three stimulus modalities. Some of these results are consistent with previous research indicating a tendency of schizophrenics to exhibit withdrawal or defensiveness in response to verbal stimuli. Suggestions for further research are presented.

Keyword(s): Adult, schizophrenic, stimulus-modality, projective-responses.

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