On Classifying Schizophrenics: A Modest Proposal
sions which have been shown to possess meaningful behavioral correlates. At present three such dimensions have been extensively surveyed: paranoid-nonparanoid, a classification which can be made reliably on the basis of psychiatric interview; good-poor premorbid personality, expressed in terms of the Phillips Scale (1953) or the Kantor, Wallner, and Winder alternatives (1953); and chronicity, stated as the length of time since the initial diagnosis of schizophrenia. The Future will undoubtedly introduce other objectively defined parameters which are orrhogonal to the others. Second, establish what functions are important in therapy and rehabilitation of schizophrenics. Using multiple-correlation methods relate the classificatory dimensions to the functions being studied. The end result will be a series of regression equations relating multiply-classified subgroups to functions known to be essential to treatment. Ultimately similarly classified patients will be assigned to an appropriate type of therapy, and the researcher who is concerned with etiological factors can work with genuinely homogeneous groupings. The number of papers referring to schizophrenia as "an enigma" should decrease markedly. Third, discontinue the use of the current subcategories of schizophrenics. The difficulties of chis program are obvious. However, in view of the fact that in this area the failure to replicate findings is so often the result of population variables, a new classification system is needed.