Impaired Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance in first-episode schizophrenia: Resource or motivation deficit?

Patients with first-episode schizophrenia (n = 27) and age- and education-matched healthy controls (n = 27) were administered the standard version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R), and the Rorschach according to the Comprehensive Syste...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Comprehensive psychiatry 2000-09, Vol.41 (5), p.385-391
Main Authors: Ilonen, Tuula, Taiminen, Tero, Lauerma, Hannu, Karlsson, Hasse, Helenius, Hans Y.M., Tuimala, Pentti, Leinonen, Kirsi-Marja, Wallenius, Elina, Salokangas, Raimo K.R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Biological and medical sciences
Female
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Motivation
Neuropsychological Tests
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Psychoses
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia - diagnosis
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Summary:Patients with first-episode schizophrenia (n = 27) and age- and education-matched healthy controls (n = 27) were administered the standard version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R), and the Rorschach according to the Comprehensive System (CS). Schizophrenic patients achieved a significantly lower full-scale IQ and made more perseverative responses and achieved fewer categories on the WCST than the healthy control group. No significant associations were observed between effort or motivation and WCST performance. Schizophrenic patients who made more perseverative responses tended to be impoverished in terms of available resources, and functioned in a simplistic way when attending to details of the stimulus field. First-episode schizophrenics are able to generate motives and initiate goal-directed activity, but some of them fail to achieve their goals because the cognitive abilities and available resources required for effective planning, purposeful action, or effective performance are impaired.
ISSN:0010-440X
1532-8384
DOI:10.1053/comp.2000.9017