Temporal Discrimination of Brief Auditory Stimuli by Schizophrenics, Neurologically Impaired, and Normals

Abstract

36 normal, 36 schizophrenic, and 36 neurologically impaired Ss were compared for their ability to temporally discriminate brief auditory stimuli. The experimental task was the absolute judgment of 3, 5, or 9 stimuli ranging in duration from .10 to 1.90 sec. Univariate and bivariate information analysis showed that normal Ss obtained significantly higher information transmission scores than did either brain-damaged or schizophrenic Ss. The two clinical populations failed to produce the classical information-transmission function of a linear increase up to channel capacity, then virtually no change thereafter. Normal Ss also demonstrated less response stereotypy than did the schizophrenic and neurologically impaired Ss.