IN THE EARLY part of this century clinicians believed that memory impairments were not a feature of schizophrenia.¹ In contrast, since the 1960s, application of psychometric tests has repeatedly revealed that memory impairments can be severe.² Nevertheless, the precise nature of these memory impairments and their implications for our understanding of schizophrenia remain unclear.

Is it the case, for example, that impairment is restricted to only a subgroup of patients? There are studies showing impairments in patients with chronic but not acute schizophrenia.³ Controversy also exists concerning the precise nature of the memory impairment. Some studies show that retrieval is impaired but not recognition,⁴ while others demonstrate specific impairment of semantic memory.⁵ It is also claimed that failures in memory acquisition and retrieval are indirect consequences of problems with executive processes, such as encoding and monitoring.⁶