Visual information processing deficits in schizophrenic patients

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Using a visual search task, the present study investigated preattentive and focal attentional processes in schizophrenic patients. The performance of schizophrenic patients and normal subjects was compared in two search : feature search and conjunction search. In the feature search, the schizophrenic subjects showed nearly zero slopes of reaction time function as did the normal subjects, indicating that in the preattentive process the schizophrenic patients functioned at a normal level. In the conjunction search, the schizophrenic subjects showed steeper slopes than the normal subjects for target absence, suggesting that there was a deficit in the focal attentional process. The present study demonstrates the utility of the visual search task to investigate visual information processing deficits in schizophrenic patients.