The description of the characteristics of the schizophrenias is a continuing challenge in psychiatry. In this paper, we shall describe a method for collecting objective data concerning behavior, and we shall show how schizophrenics can be differentiated from normals in terms of interactional behavior, as obtained by the interaction chronograph interview.
In the diagnosis and treatment of schizophrenia, psychiatric attention has been directed primarily toward the analysis of verbal material, such as dreams, delusions and hallucinations, as manifestations of overt behavioral disorder. The tendency has been to rely on a subjective approach, effective at times in the treatment of the individual patient, but less conducive to the solution of more general problems of psychiatry. While nonverbal and behavioral criteria have been used, they are frequently impressionistic and based on the personal experience of the individual psychiatrist. Thus, while a wealth of descriptive material on the