http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/139112167

Conceptual thinking in schizophrenia

"The impairment of thinking is one of the most striking features of the schizophrenic disorder. Ever since Kraepelin described it as a "disturbance of association, " it has been an object of much interest and speculation. Many conjectures have been made concerning the nature of the disturbance, its origin, and the part it plays in the general structure of the psychosis. Some authors deny that the impairment of thought processes is a specific and primary trait in schizophrenia and consider it as a manifestation either of the affective-volitional disorder or of a general change in psychological function. Others assume the existence of a specific defect in thinking and express different opinions in regard to the nature of this disturbance. Some stress the irrationality of schizophrenic thought processes, their deviation from the logical norms; the genetic approach sees in the disturbance a general regression to a lower level of thinking; the neurologically oriented investigators point out the aspects which bear resemblance to somatically determined defects, such as aphasia or agnosia. Although not all of these different interpretations are of necessity mutually exclusive, yet there is no general agreement on the subject. The problem of schizophrenic thinking, just as the larger problem of schizophrenia itself, is still a challenge to investigators. What are the ways and methods that could bring us a step closer to the understanding of the nature of schizophrenic thinking? We may obtain some suggestions about this point from a consideration of the inadequacies of the older approaches to the problem. They were based largely on clinical observation of not very systematic nature. The bulk of the material was provided by accidental verbal productions of the patient. Of necessity such observations were limited to the most conspicuous, spectacular phenomena, while less striking but possibly just as important signs passed unnoticed. The observed phenomena were often described in terms that had no definite relation to the general psychological theories concerning the function that was being studied. Finally the single symptoms were explored and considered by themselves, rather than in relation to the total clinical picture"--Book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

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