Thought Disorder and the Predictability of Schizophrenic Speech

Abstract

Summary: Previous research suggests that the predictability of speech in schizophrenic patients may be related to certain measures of thought disorder. Two uninterrupted passages of 200 words were taken from 25 randomly selected schizophrenic patients recently admitted to hospital and were ‘Clozed’ by students under both fourth- and fifth-word deletion. Thought disorder was measured by the Bannister-Fransella test, and the Cloze scores were found to be related neither to Intensity nor to Consistency.