Selected Rorschach indices of thought pathology in paranoid schizophrenics

Burstein and Loucks have recently developed a new scoring system for the Rorschach inkblot test. In particular, a greatly expanded set of perceptual cognitive characteristics (special scorings) have been introduced. This study explored the clinical usefulness of these indices in discriminating and describing paranoid schizophrenics. The Rorschach was administered to a carefully selected sample of ^5 paranoid schizophrenics. It was predicted that specific cognitive perceptual variables (Card Description, Cut-Off Detail, Egocentric Justification, Loss of Distance, Predicate Thinking, Card Rejection, and Transposition Response) would be the most descriptive of the paranoid schizophrenic sample, and the most discriminating of the paranoid sample when compared to a sample of mixed psychiatric patients and a sample of healthy adults. An analysis of variance and a canonical discriminant analysis were performed. Eleven perceptual cognitive variables were found to occur with significantly greater frequency in the paranoid subjects; two of these were from the predicted set of variables. The discriminant functions derived from the predicted variables were able to correctly assign subjects into one of the three clinical groups 73% of the time. The discriminant functions derived from all of the perceptual cognitive variables had a successful classification rate of 90%. Nine perceptual cognitive variables were positively associated with assignment of subjects into the paranoid group; two of these were from the group of variables predicted in the literature. The results of this study suggest that the expanded perceptual cognitive indices of the Burstein-Loucks system are clinically relevant; that a re-evaluatlon of the traditional indices of paranoid schizophrenia may be needed; that reliance on frequency or summary data alone may be inappropriate; and, that the use of canonical discriminant analysis is appropriate in the analysis of Rorschach scores.