Bifactor model of cognition in schizophrenia: Evidence for general and specific abilities.

Background: Despite extensive study of cognition in schizophrenia, it remains unclear as to whether cognitive deficits and their latent structure are best characterized as reflecting a generalized deficit, specific deficits, or some combination of general and specific constructs.

Method: To clarify latent structure of cognitive abilities, confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the latent structure of cognitive data collected for the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) for Schizophrenia study. Baseline assessment data (n = 813) were randomly divided into calibration (n = 413) and cross-validation samples (n = 400).

Executive Function Profiles in Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) results in heterogeneous patterns of neuropsychological impairment. This study investigated heterogeneity in executive function (EF) using the Comprehensive Trail Making Test (CTMT) to evaluate 121 children and adolescents with TBI and 121 matched normal controls. The TBI group performed approximately two standard deviations below controls.

Social Cognition in Children With ADHD.

Despite evidence of social skill deficits in children with ADHD, there is no consensus regarding a social cognitive profile and whether these skills predict behavior. Therefore, a comprehensive battery was used to investigate the relationship between social cognition and behavioral functioning. Children ages 7 to 13 with ADHD ( = 25) and controls ( = 25) completed tests assessing social cognitive domains (affect recognition and theory of mind [ToM]).