Graduate Program

Clinical Psychology

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Semester of Degree Completion

2001

Thesis Director

J. Michael Havey

Abstract

This study investigated the efficacy of current medication treatment procedures for chronic schizophrenics on neuropsychological measures. A total of twenty participants from the Coles County Mental Health Center, who met DSM-IV criteria for chronic schizophrenia, volunteered to be administered the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)-64 card version as a means of assessing neuropsychological executive functioning. A total of twenty participants free of any diagnosable psychological disorder also volunteered to be administered the WSCT-64, which served as a control group. The staff psychiatrist at the Coles County Mental Health Center completed the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) in order to determine the predominant symptom presentation of each participant who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Participant's current dosage levels of typical and atypical medication were recorded and analyzed following the completion of testing. Results indicated that only one index of the WCST-64 could be predicted by medication type and the combined relationship of symptom presentation and medication on the WCST-64 could not be computed due to small sample size.

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