What is it about?

This study derives from the organismic-developmental approach of Werner (1948), who suggested some interesting comparisons between pathological and creative thinking. Eight schizophrenics, 6 visual artists, and 10 ordinary controls were compared along a series of tasks evoking symbolic cognition (symbol production, proverb comprehension, and symbol representation) and syncretic cognition (synaesthesia, structural eidetic imagery, and absorption), both constructs deriving from Werner's framework. We hypothesized that both the schizophrenics and the visual artists, relative to ordinary controls, should exhibit a high degree of syncretic cognition and confirmed this for 2 of the 3 tasks. We further hypothesized that the schizophrenics, relative to the other groups, should be markedly impaired on tests of symbolic cognition and confirmed this for 2 of the 3 tasks. We further confirmed their impairment on a task of logical reasoning. Although the samples were small and replications are necessary, our findings suggest that assessing the degree of similarity or dissimilarity in performance of these 3 groups enables a productive strategy in the study of cognitive psychopathology.

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Why is it important?

For further discussion, see also: Glicksohn, J. (2011). Schizophrenia and psychosis. In M. A. Runco & S. R. Prizker (Eds.), Encyclopedia of creativity (2nd ed., Vol. 2, pp. 325-330). San Diego: Academic Press.

Perspectives

In this paper, Heinz Werner's developmental theory provides us with differential predictions concerning both production and comprehension tasks of symbolic cognition, when contrasting schizophrenics and visual artists. I have returned to this topic over the years, each time with increasing depth of analysis.

Professor Joseph Glicksohn
Bar-Ilan University

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This page is a summary of: Symbolic and Syncretic Cognition Among Schizophrenics and Visual Artists, Creativity Research Journal, April 2001, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1207/s15326934crj1302_1.
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