Abstract

This study was designed to evaluate the construing of formal thought-disordered schizophrenics' personal construct system. Subjects were formal thought-disordered schizophrenic group, non-formal thought-disordered schizophrenic group, and normal group. Split-plot factorial design was used to evaluate the construing of formal thought-disordered schizophrenics. The data were collected from subjects' ranking form Rep Grids and analyzed in terms of construct intensity, construct relationship consistency, element consistency, and construct intensity variability. Integrative complexity and logical inconsistency were obtained from Coordinate Grid analysis. It was found that formal thought-disordered schizophrenics have more loossened construct system, more inconsistent element-construct relations, and more inconsistent logic than the other groups. And also, their construct relationship was less stable and their integrative complexity was simpler than the other groups. It was suggested that integrative complexity and element consistency are better indices than the other indices to assess loose construing.