Redundancy, Repetition and Pausing in Schizophrenic Speech

¹ Lecturer in Psychiatry, University Department of Psychiatry, Whiteley Wood Clinic, Woofindin Road, Sheffield S10 3TL

Speech samples from actively schizophrenic and other subjects were studied by Cloze procedure using both the customary fifth word deletion method and a more sensitive method of fourth word deletion. With the latter technique a very significant correlation was found between Cloze Score and Type-Token Ratio. The result supports the view that inappropriate repetition of verbal material may be causatively related to reduced redundancy and comprehensibility of schizophrenic speech. Two hypomanic subjects showed atypically high Type-Token Ratios and low Cloze Scores, and also very low Pause-Speech Ratios, suggestive of a quite distinct type of language disturbance. The other, actively schizophrenic, subjects did not show the hypothesized low values for Pause-Speech Ratio. The implication of differences in methodology as crucial in this field of study is discussed with reference to the work of other authors.