Varieties of "disordered" thinking on the Rorschach: findings in schizophrenic and nonschizophrenic patients.

Seventy-one schizophrenic and nonschizophrenic hospitalized patients were assessed on three scales for aspects indicative of a thinking disorder on the Rorschach: disruption of logical thought, irrelevant or personalized associations, and elaboration in affective terms. Each scale could be reliably scored according to the criteria described. The scales correlated significantly with other Rorschach scores suggestive of thought disorder. All three scales were significantly higher in schizophrenic patients than in depressed patients (f < .05). In addition, two of the three scales were related (p < .01) to ratings of bizarre behavior. The results suggest that the scales can be used to investigate the nature of thinking disorder.