The Emissary, Volume 10, Number 9, October 1978 Page: 7
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ences," Dr. Ebner says.
The tests are like games, and this is why children make
such good experimental subjects, he says. He hopes to
do longitudinal studies that may reveal whether a sensory
problem has bothered a person for years and finally
brought on a psychotic break, or whether the deficit in
perception began with the illness.
perceptual differences in schizophrenia
Dr. Caryl Smith, psychologist in the inpatient unit,
spends part of her time in the psychopathology lab to
study patterns of perceptual function in schizophrenic
patients. She is looking for differences between chron-
ically ill patients, those acutely ill, and a group of staff
members and students.
Part of her study involves Rorschach patterns on the
tachistoscope. The instrument adds control of time
intervals and spatial orientation to the ordinary Ror-
schach test in which the person tested has unlimited time,
can turn the figure around, and cogitate on its meaning.
"We may be able to identify perceptual problems
earlier and perhaps develop some form of remediation as
has been done for learning disabilities," Dr. Smith says.
"We're really at the threshold of this work. We're looking
for things that could be useful later as diagnostic tools."
Eye-tracking may be one of those indicators. It is done
by electrodes attached to the outer corners of the eyes
while the individual watches an object moving from side
to side. In normal persons, eye-tracking forms a smooth
wave pattern. In many schizophrenic patients the wave is
uneven. Dr. Ebner says this finding has been so con-
sistent that it may give some clues to the perceptual
difficulties common in schizophrenic patients. The fact
that the eye-tracking defect has been found also in a large
number of first-degree relatives of schizophrenics strength-
ens evidence for a genetic link in the disease, he says.
collaborative studies
Dr. Ebner is pleased with the collaboration he has been
offered by other TRIMS researchers and by the interest of
his University of Houston students. He plans to study
acute effects of neuroleptic and memory-enhancing
drugs with Drs. James Claghorn and Thaddeus Samor-
ajski, memory functions in aging with Dr. George
Niederehe, and developmental disabilities with Drs. Kay
Lewis and Jack Fletcher.
University of Houston graduate student J. L. Rachel
works in the lab part-time, as does psychology internDonna Copeland whose dissertation concerns eye-
tracking dysfunctions in schizophrenia.
The researchers welcome visitors to the new lab in
room 1454 of Center Pavilion Hospital and will demon-
strate their equipment at the drop of a slide.
-Lore Feldman\
Dr. Ebner, chief psychologist
and chief of experimental psychopathology laboratory.
.1
Larry Lohman, research assistant.
His slide projector has a gradual-focus attachment.o7
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Texas Research Institute of Mental Sciences. The Emissary, Volume 10, Number 9, October 1978, periodical, October 1978; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1588158/m1/7/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.