Previous studies have suggested that schizophrenic psychopathology segregates into three orthogonal dimensions, viz., psychosis, negative and disorganization. Most of these reports were based on studies on medicated patients with varying degrees of chronicity. The present study aimed at exploring the dimensionality of psychopathology rated on the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) and the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS) in a sample of 43 neuroleptic-naive patients with recent-onset schizophrenia/schizophreniform disorder. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) of SANS and SAPS global ratings, excluding inattention but including inappropriate affect as a separate global rating, revealed that the symptoms segregated into three dimensions, viz., negative (affective flattening, **alogia**, avolition anhedonia and inappropriate affect), psychosis (delusions and hallucinations........


We hypothesized that social inattentiveness (SANS 22) and inattentiveness during mental status testing (SANS 23) might be describing discrete constructs, and this dissociation might be a source of controversy. Thirty-five patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia were assessed by the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS), SANS and a neuropsychological battery. The 2 attention items were not significantly interrelated. SANS 22 was correlated with bizarre behavior and **alogia**, and none of the neuropsychological test scores, whereas SANS 23 showed strong correlations with the Wechsler Memory Scale......