Schizophrenia Test:

Schizophrenics have the problem in distinguishing fact from fiction but they are not easily fooled by optical illusions.

This has been proved by researchers at London University a few years back. No matter how many difficulties the Schizophrenics face in perceiving the reality, the Schizophrenia Test showed that these people with Schizophrenia can see right through some optical illusions which are not always possible for people who do not have the illness. With this finding, it becomes easier to support the interpretation of this mental illness that it is the general inability of the person affected by this disease to interpret sensory information in its appropriate context,

According to Dr. Steven Dakin, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, it is a general tendency to think that people with Schizophrenia are always hallucinating, that they are not seeing the world in the way it is but they are the ones whose vision is more accurate than the ones who are not suffering from the disease.

The questions of this test are like:

(1)

Can you find the pattern which matches the pattern in the middle of the circle?

(2)

Carefully observe the image below and choose the pattern that matches the highlighted area:

The method behind the test is:

As seen from the questions, we can easily interfere that the volunteers of this test were shown black and white pictures of white contrast with patterned images and there were some sections contrasted at lower levels. Then, they had to match the contrast of the changed section to its double in an array of other identical shapes.

The conclusion of the test:

People suffering from Schizophrenia could find the test comparatively easier because while judging the level of contrast in the altered section, their brain doesn’t notice the surroundings. For a non-sufferer, this high contrast background makes the apparent contrast of smaller foreground features seem insignificant.

Results:

12 out of 15 Schizophrenics could perceive the contrast between the background and the foreground most accurately.

The explanation of the test is:

The background makes the central disk appear a slightly greyer than its actual grey color to the average human eye. The subject’s perception was then assessed by researchers who showed them a series of disks with increasing greyness. The observers had to answer whether the patch was lighter or darker than the original image.

According to Dr. Dankin, the Schizophrenic’s brain has insufficient inhibition which prevents them from getting too much overwhelmed with information. This is also the reason why Schizophrenics always misinterpret people’s actions.