The performance of patients with schizophrenia on the wechsler memory scale-revised

Abstract

The performance of 45 patients with schizophrenia was examined on the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R). The patients demonstrated a relatively flat performance profile across the five major WMS-R index scores suggesting similar levels of impairment in memory and attentional processes, in memory for visual and verbal materials, and in immediate and delayed recall. The General Memory Index (GMI) was lower than Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) scores in the majority of cases, and a large portion of the sample demonstrated fairly severe differential impairments of memory with FSIQ exceeding the GMI by 15 or more points. These results are consistent with prior findings of memory impairment in schizophrenia and support the validity of the WMS-R as a measure of memory deficits in schizophrenia.