This paper reviews the evidence for a specific deficit in the flow of information through the schizophrenic processing system. It is suggested that there is little to support the notion of a single defective mechanism underlying schizophrenic cognitive dysfunction. The lack of a valid and reliable metric for measuring degree of difficulty across tasks and a lack of concern with matching tasks for attentional processing load, detracts from the usefulness of available results. The applicability of a global limited capacity model of selective attention to schizophrenic information processing is discussed as the most appropriate means of systematizing the wealth of published empirical data.