Abstract

Background. The present study is devoted to the analysis of the role of shortening in the orienting stage of activity in planning disorders in patients with schizophrenia. This question, widely discussed in literature, is important and relevant in psychology, since it allows us to study various strategies applied to performing planning tasks in healthy subjects and patients with mental disorders. In the future, the obtained data can be used in the psycho-correction of planning disorders in patients with schizophrenia, as well as to improve the efficiency of planning in healthy people. 

Objective. TThe aim is to study the strategy for dealing with planning problems in patients with schizophrenia. 

Sample. Experimental group consisted of 40 patients with paranoid schizophrenia (age: 34.4±8.24 years; illness duration: 7.78±5.47 years). Control group included 40 healthy subjects (age: 32.5±7.28 years). 

Methods. The “object” and “visual” versions of the Tower of London test (TOL-DX and TOL-BACS) were used to evaluate planning. TOL-DX provides the test subject with the opportunity to choose how to solve the problem: whether to plan actions in advance (before they are completed), or to build a plan as the tasks are completed. TOL-BACS limits the choice of subjects to planning actions before they are carried out. The main indicator is the number of tasks solved correctly (optimally) (Alekseev, Rupchev, Katenko, 2012). Psychomotor speed was assessed by Schulte tables. 

Results. Patients with schizophrenia coped significantly worse with the “object” version of the test, but showed a productivity comparable to that of healthy subjects in the “visual” tasks. To analyze the dynamics of changes in the latent time (time to think on the tasks) depending on the number of moves in the “object” version of TOL patients with schizophrenia were divided into a group of patients with planning disorders and a group of patients without planning disorders. The dynamics of changes in latent time in healthy subjects and patients without planning disorders was similar and was characterized by an increase in latent time with an increase in the number of moves required to solve tasks. At the same time, patients suffering from schizophrenia with planning disorders showed approximately the same latent time, regardless of the complexity of tasks. The amount of latent time in patients with planning disorders was lower than in healthy subjects at the level of statistical trend in tasks with 5 moves and statistically significantly lower in tasks with 6 and 7 moves. 

Conclusion. The results obtained outline the role of reduction at the orienting stage of activity in planning disorders in patients with schizophrenia.