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Biomedical subjects

D P Saccuzzo

Publications and source records attributed to D P Saccuzzo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

Negative and positive cognition in depressed and nondepressed chronic-pain patients.

Several studies have suggested that depressed pain patients evidence more cognitive distortion than nondepressed pain patients and healthy controls. Although these studies have generally supported notions relating cognitive distortion to depressive functioning, other aspects of dysfunctional cognition have not been assessed in the chronic-pain population. The present study examined negative and positive automatic thoughts and attributional style in depressed pain patients, nondepressed pain patients, and healthy controls. Depressed chronic-pain patients were found to exhibit significantly more negative automatic thoughts than nondepressed pain patients and healthy controls. Conversely, nondepressed chronic-pain patients reported significantly more positive automatic thoughts than did depressed patients and healthy controls. No significant differences were found for attributional style. These results suggest that different cognitive-behavioral interventions might be considered for depressed compared to nondepressed chronic-pain patients.

Back Pain↗
PubMed1988

Thought disorder and associative cognitive dysfunction in the first-degree relatives of adult schizophrenics. A reply to Romney.

Contrary to both theoretical and empirical findings, Romney equates associative cognitive dysfunction with other manifestations of thought disorder. Moreover, he overstates the case for the documentation of thought disorder in the families of schizophrenics. We discuss his reaction to Callahan and Saccuzzo in the context of four major issues. We conclude that the evidence for thought disorder in the families of schizophrenics is weak and inconclusive. We call for more rigorous research as well as the exploration of viable alternatives.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Information-processing abnormalities: trait- and state-dependent components.

Schizophrenics were compared to schizoaffective, bipolar, and nonpsychotic depressed patients in a visual masking paradigm in which an informational target stimulus was followed at varying intervals by a noninformational masking stimulus. In limiting the availability of the sensory signal provided by the target stimulus, the mask was used to probe how information from the environment enters and is processed by the central nervous system. The use of the masking paradigm was originally based on the hypothesis that thought disorder is a result of a more primary dysfunction in the processes that precede and result in thought. Results confirmed previous findings of a performance deficit in the schizophrenics when compared to nonpsychotic controls. Schizoaffective and bipolar patients also showed evidence of impaired processing, however. Results were interpreted in terms of a trait/state formulation in which impaired information processing is seen as a fundamental trait of schizophrenia spectrum disorders and as a state that can covary with psychotic illness in general. A unifying concept centers on the effects of psychopathological conditions on an individual's processing resources that results in either underprovision or overprovision of information from sensory input to complex cognitive operations dependent on the cerebral cortex. Findings from a variety of paradigms are consistent with those of the masking paradigm in revealing that the processing deficits of schizophrenics are time dependent and occur in the 500 ms following stimulus input.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Associative intrusions in the verbal behavior of the first-degree relatives of adult schizophrenics. A preliminary study.

The first-degree blood relatives of schizophrenics were compared to a matched control group on a psychometrically matched test of responsiveness to associative intrusions. The groups differed on the subtest containing an associative alternative but not on the equally difficult subtest free of associative distractors. Results were consistent with the hypothesis that an overresponsiveness to associative distractors, well documented in schizophrenics, may also be a characteristic of their nondisturbed first degree blood relatives. The possible existence of cognitive markers in the relatives of schizophrenic patients that might indicate familial psychopathology was supported. Limitations of the present preliminary findings, as well as the case for additional investigation of the cognitive behavior of the first-degree relatives of schizophrenics, are discussed.

Association↗
PubMed1986

MMPI subgroups and affective disorder in chronic pain patients.

Patients with chronic pain syndromes are commonly depressed. Chronic pain populations also contain distinct subgroups of personality profiles as defined by the MMPI. To assess the relevance of personality subtype to affective disorder we determined the relationship of psychiatric diagnoses defined by Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) to MMPI subgroups in a sample of hospitalized patients with predominantly chronic low back pain. RDC psychiatric diagnoses for the sample were major depression (44.2%), minor depression (19.2%), other psychiatric disorder (13.5%), and no mental disorder (21.6%). Patients satisfying RDC criteria for major depression were significantly associated with discrete MMPI personality subtypes. No other psychiatric diagnoses were significantly associated with distinct personality subgroups. No relationship was observed between personality profile and presence of demonstrable organic etiology for pain. These findings indicate that behavioral and pharmacological interventions directed at depression as well as pain are important in the treatment of chronic pain populations, especially in selected subgroups.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Information processing in borderline patients.

An experiment was conducted to determine whether depressed borderline patients could be distinguished from normal controls and psychotic patients on the basis of a visual backward masking task that measures speed of information processing. Results showed that a) borderline patients could not be distinguished from normal controls on the information-processing task; b) both the borderline patients and the normal controls were superior to psychotic patients with diagnoses of major depressive, schizoaffective, and manic disorders; and c) among the three psychotic groups, the schizoaffective subjects were the most impaired. The data support the idea that borderline patients have normal-range information-processing functions. In distinction, all three psychotic groups showed disruption of this fundamental ego function by which information is processed. The results of related experiments indicate that schizotypal patients (in distinction to borderline patients) are abnormal information processors. Taken together, these findings support the contention that the schizotypal/borderline distinction is valid.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Schizotaxia, information processing and the MMPI 2-7-8 code type.

The relationship between the 2-7-8 MMPI code type and schizotaxia was investigated. College students whose Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory profiles revealed a 2-7-8 code were compared to an elevation-free group on a visual information-processing task. The 2-7-8 group exhibited a processing deficiency similar to that previously found for schizophrenics and in-patient schizotypal personalities, supporting the construct validity of the 2-7-8 code as a measure of schizotaxia.

Female↗
PubMed1985

The time course of information-processing deficits in schizophrenia.

A visual backward masking task was used to specify the time course of the information-processing dysfunction in 19 schizophrenic patients and 15 matched control patients using novel interstimulus intervals. The authors found that the information-processing deficit in schizophrenic subjects occurred at interstimulus intervals of greater than 60 msec and less than 500 msec. These data are compared with the results of evoked-potential and other psychophysiological studies. The visual-processing impairment is specific and time-linked rather than a reflection of the effects of gross psychopathology or medication in schizophrenic individuals.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Interhemispheric visual masking.

Backward masking functions were evaluated in a paradigm in which target and masking stimuli were presented to opposite cerebral hemispheres using separate peripheral pathways. Backward masking occurred dichoptically when the target and mask were projected to opposite hemispheres. These findings indicated that some effective masking mechanisms are mediated by interhemispheric interactions independent of retinal phenomena.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Effect of antipsychotic medication on speed of information processing in schizophrenic patients.

The authors evaluated the effects of antipsychotic medication and schizophrenia on speed of information processing. Medicated (N - 20) as well as unmedicated (N = 16) schizophrenic patients showed more evidence of slow information processing than did depressed control subjects (N = 20). The medicated schizophrenic patients had higher levels of general psychopathology but also showed superior information processing speed compared with the unmedicated schizophrenic patients. These data confirm that the schizophrenic patients are slow information processors and that antipsychotic medication probably does not cause, and may actually reverse, slowness of information processing in schizophrenic patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Facilitation skills and the perception of clients' wants.

High functioning and low functioning observers as measured by the Carkhuff global level of facilitation scale were compared on their ability to perceive client wants. Observers were 16 master's level psychologists who had previously received 40 hours of Carkhuffian human relations training. After each counseling session the client and observer filled out the Therapy Session Reports describing what the client talked about (dialogue) and what the client wanted (wants). An agreement score between observer and clients was calculated for each observer. It was found that all observers were better able to identify dialogue. High facilitators were better able to identify wants than low facilitators (experimental task), while there was no difference between the groups in ability to identify dialogue (control task).

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1977

The WISC as a measure of personality types.

This present analysis attempted to provide evidence for the utility of the WISCto identify a specific group of individuals. Incarcerated juvenile offenders in the 70/79 IQ range were separated according to race and sex and their differential WISC patterns studied. Results focused on the efficiency of each of Wechsler's hypotheses for the adolescent sociopath. Post-hoc analysis provided tentative additional signs by which to identify juvenile offenders in the 70/79 IQ range. Consistencies between results of the present analysis and previous studies were noted. The clear pattern that emerged strongly supports the potential of the WISC as a measure of personality types.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Accuracy of perception of psychotherapeutic content as a function of observers' level of facilitation.

Eight high-functioning and eight low-functioning Master's-level psychologists viewed 11 1-hour individual therapy sessions. The level of functioning of the psychologists was determined by ratings based on the Carkhuff global level of facilitation scale. After each session the observers completed a Therapy Session Report questionnaire that asked them to indicate what the patient and therapist were feeling and concerned with during the session. Analysis of variance indicated that high-functioning observers were more accurate in their perceptions than low-functioning observers and that all observers were more accurate with regard to their perceptions about the therapist. Results were discussed in terms of the validity of the Carkhuff scales.

Adult↗