Perceptual span in schizophrenia and affective disorders.

Perceptual span was assessed in schizophrenic, bipolar affective disorder-manic, bipolar affective disorder-depressed, and nonpsychotic inpatients. Both schizophrenics and manics processed less information than depressives, and did not differ from each other. This suggests that reduced span may be a concomitant of psychoses characterized by distractibility and thought disorder, rather than a trait specific to schizophrenia.