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Content analysis of delusions in reactive and process schizophrenics
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Content analysis of delusions in reactive and process schizophrenics

Alfred B Heilbrun and Kirk S Heilbrun
Journal of abnormal psychology (1965), v 86(6), pp 597-608
Dec 1977
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.86.6.597
PMID: 599210

Abstract

Verbatim typescripts of interviews with 32 schizophrenics (15 females and 17 males) having primary or secondary paranoid symptoms were edited so that only material relevant to their delusions remained. These edited typescripts were then subdivided into clause units, which formed the basis for most of the content indexes under investigation. Predictions regarding differences in the delusions of reactive and process schizophrenics received support from the analysis. Results indicate that the delusions of the reactive patients were (a) more extensive, (b) more varied in content, (c) better integrated, (d) more actively oriented toward the environment, (e) more sensitive to negative environmental features, (f) less autistic, and (g) based more on inductive reasoning than the delusions of the process patients. Findings clarify the cognitive differences in paranoid ideation between process and reactive schizophrenics, point to the usefulness of information-processing constructs in describing these differences, and suggest the value of social-learning theory in explaining their origins. (1½ p ref)

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