Segmental Set: A Theory of the Formal Psychological Deficit in Schizophrenia

Abstract

This highly summarized attempt to theorize about the psychology of schizophrenia is derived from studies carried out over a number of years at 3 institutions—the Worcester State Hospital, the University of Illinois, and, most recently, the National Institute of Mental Health.*Much of the material on which my discussion will be based is as yet unpublished, although many studies are in print and some phases of the theory have been discussed before. The data will, however, be organized and viewed somewhat differently from the way in which I have dealt with them in the past. Numerous colleagues at these institutions—many of whose names will arise * '"" the course of the presentation—have been involved in these studies. The generalizations I shall draw from them on this occasion are, however, my sole responsibility. These data raise several basic questions on the order of the following: What characterizes the formal schizophrenic