Simple reaction time in schizophrenic, retarded, and normal children under regular and irregular preparatory interval conditions.

Abstract

A reaction-time experiment was carried out as an attempt to replicate, with minor modifications, Rodnick and Shakow''s (1940) study, "Set in the schizophrenic as measured by a composite reaction time index." Ss [subjects] were 20 schizophrenic, 20 retarded, and 20 normal children. The procedure consisted of regular and irregular preparatory interval conditions. The results demonstrated that the schizophrenics were slower and more variable than the control groups. When applying the set-index formulae, a 10% overlap between normals and schizophrenics was also evident. No clear separation could be obtained between schizophrenic and retarded children.