Psychodiagnosis in Schizophrenia

Psychodiagnosis in Schizophrenia is a reprint of a classic volume in assessment psychology that first appeared in 1966. The book concerns the use of psychodiagnostic techniques in the differential diagnosis of schizophrenia. The author first presents a conceptual analysis of schizophrenic disturbance in terms of impaired ego functioning and extrapolates from schizophrenic ego impairments to psychodiagnostic indices that have been demonstrated to assess them. In particular, Weiner refers to the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, the Rorschach Inkblot Method, and the Draw-A-Person test. Clinical and research data delineating the nature of psychological deficits in schizophrenia are reviewed, and practical guidelines for the clinical assessment of these deficits are presented.

The author next considers several differential diagnostic possibilities frequently considered in the evaluation of schizophrenic persons, with separate chapters devoted to the many forms of schizophrenia, such as: acute, chronic, paranoid, nonparanoid, incipient, remitting, borderline and pseudoneurotic. There are also chapters that focus on schizoaffective disorder and adolescent schizophrenia. The conceptual and empirical contributions to these distinctions are reviewed; accordingly, the differentiating characteristics of these subcategories are related to parameters of psychodiagnostic test performance. In additon, the process of differential psychodiagnosis in schizophrenia is illustrated by detailed case studies. In an extended new preface, the author comments on current perspectives and contemporary literature related to the individual chapters of the text.

Contents: Preface. Part I: Introduction. Basic Approaches to Schizophrenia: History and Current Issues. The Ego-Disturbance Model of Schizophrenia. Psychodiagnostic Techniques in Schizophrenia: A Brief History. Part II: Psychodiagnosis of Schizophrenia: Assessment of Disturbances in Ego Functioning. Thought Processes: I. Cognitive Focusing. Thought Processes: II. Reasoning. Thought Processes: III. Concept Formation. Relation to Reality: I. Reality Testing. Relation to Reality: II. Reality Sense. Object Relations. Defensive Operations. Autonomous Functions. Synthetic Functions. Part III: Differential Diagnosis in Schizophrenia. Acute and Chronic Schizophrenia. Paranoid and Nonparanoid Schizophrenia. Incipient and Remitting Schizophrenia. Borderline and Pseudoneurotic Schizophrenia. Schizo-Affective Disorder. Schizophrenia in Adolescence. Part IV: Conclusion. Scientific and Professional Issues in Psychodiagnosis.