SENSITIVITY TO MATERNAL CENSURE IN PARANOID AND NONPARANOID SCHIZOPHRENICS

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Abstract
The present experiment tested the prediction that paranoid schizophrenics would be more sensitive to maternal censure cues than nonparanoid schizophrenics. The prediction was based upon prior evidence which linked continuing sensitivity to maternal censure in normal males with high control-low nurturance mothers to paranoid trends in their thinking. Thirty-one male schizophrenics (12 paranoid and 19 nonparanoid) were presented an experimental situation in which they were first given a cognitive task susceptible to distraction and then given a parallel task while a tape-recorded scene of a mother censuring her son was delivered through earphones. Sensitivity to maternal censure cues was defined by the degree to which cognitive performance was impaired under the tape condition. The results supported the prediction. Paranoid schizophrenics demonstrated a decline in performance when exposed to maternal censure cues as distractors while the nonparanoid schizophrenic group did not. The difference between the two groups was significant. These results, in combination with the earlier results obtained with normals, were felt to be sufficiently promising to warrant further investigation of a developmental proposal for paranoid behavior which has as its nucleus the manner in which the child comes to adapt to aversive maternal control.

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