Decoding of facial emotions, in terms of expressiveness, by schizophrenics and depressives.

In a comparison of reactions to expressed emotions, 48 schizophrenics, 40 depressives, and 50 nonpatient controls were asked to identify the extreme and the least extreme expressions of six emotions. Schizophrenics identified the extreme expressions of emotions significantly better than the least extreme ones, whilst depressives and controls were uninfluenced by those factors. In a second task, groups were asked to judge the degree of expressiveness within the photographs of each emotion. Depressives' judgments were more consistent and closer to those of controls, as compared to schizophrenics' judgments.