'Cloze' procedure refined and modified. 'Modified Cloze', 'reverse Cloze' and the use of predictability as a measure of communication problems in psychosis.

BACKGROUND: 'Cloze' procedure assesses the predictability of text by deleting words at set intervals and having a panel of raters fill the blanks. Two refinements to the procedure are described: 'modified Cloze' and 'reverse Cloze', the latter examining the subject's ability to interpret a partial transcript.
METHOD: Samples of speech were obtained from patients with schizophrenia, manic-depression and orthopaedic disorders using a standard prompt, and the output analysed using modified Cloze. In addition, subjects completed a reverse Cloze passage.
RESULTS: Both modified Cloze and reverse Cloze discriminated the performance of patient groups, with patients with schizophrenia performing worst.
CONCLUSIONS: These techniques extend earlier findings suggesting reduced predictability in psychotic speech, particularly for patients with schizophrenia. The reverse Cloze procedure suggests a 'mirror-image' deficit and is a potential objective index of psychopathology that is much simpler to apply than traditional Cloze.