Stimulus generalization among schizophrenics and normal subjects.

This study compared schizophrenic and normal groups on a stimulus generalization (SG) task and, in addition, attempted to explore whether differences in SG among schizophrenics were related to the type of reinforcement applied during acquisition or to diagnostic subtype. 48 chronic poor premorbid schizophrenics and 48 normal controls reached criterion on a size discrimination task under either "praise" or "censure" conditions and then were administered an SG task. Schizophrenics showed significantly greater SG than normals, but no differences were found between the praised and censured groups or between paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenics.