THE RELATIONSHIP OF ALPHA ACTIVITY TO ATTENTIONAL SETS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

Eleven hospitalized male schizophrenics and 10 male normal controls were tested in reaction time (RT) in eyes-closed and eyes-open conditions. Electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings of alpha activity were made simultaneously. While the alpha wave state was found to have no systematic relationship with the presence of attentional sets as measured by RT, a number of potentially significant findings were obtained. 1) Unlike the great majority of reported findings which indicate that the performance of schizophrenics is inferior, there was no overall group difference on the RT task. 2) Schizophrenics performed better in the eyes-closed condition, while normals performed better in the eyes-open condition. 3) Eye condition was found to be a greater determinant of alpha state for schizophrenics than for normals. 4) Schizophrenics were found to perform best with the preparatory interval (PI) of intermediate value, while normals performed best with the longest PI. 5) The effect of the previous preparatory interval (PPI), so often noted in RT studies, was eliminated when PI effects were controlled.