44 are particularly important in the context of rehabilitation and community placement programmes, This study examined the relationship between general cognition and executive deficits in a group of patients living in the community. Patients were assessed using the short form WAIS-R, the Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome (BADS) and the Life Skills Profile (LSP), as a measure of social functioning. Symptoms were assessed using the BPRS, SANS, CGI and Beck Depression Inventory and demographic details were col- lected. Nineteen patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizo- phrenia were recruited. Patients differed significantly from normative data on both the WA1S-R (t=-5.1, d/=36, p= 0.0001) and the BADS (t=-9. l, d/'=36, p=0.0001). Only four patients had 'average' or 'above average" scores on the BADS. There were no significant associations between total scores on either the WAIS-R or the BADS and the score on the LSP. Self-care, one dimension of the LSP was significantly correlated with the WAIS-R (r=0.64, p=0.05) and the BADS (r= 0.63, p = 0.05 ). There was a significant relationship between duration of illness and social functioning (r= -0.70, p <0.01 ). There were no other significant associations. This study fails to provide clear evidence of a link between social functioning and executive deficits in schizophrenia as measured by the instruments used. The numbers studied were small and the population relatively homogenous but it does call into question the utility of the BADS in assessing the dysexecutive syndrome in schizophrenia. THE ROLE OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTION FOR INTENTION FORMATION IN SCHIZOPHRENIA T.K, Kondel*, K.R. Laws, P.J. McKenna *Char#tg Cross and Westminster Medical School (University q/' London). Academic Department o/'P.~?'chiatr3,, St, Dunstan's Ro~d, London W6 8RP, UK Frith (1992) has proposed that schizophrenic patients may have a disorder affecting the ability to construct and/or monitor their intentions. In the first analysis of this type, we used a variation of a paradigm devised by Goschke and Kuhl (1993) to examine the ability of schizophrenic patients to form and retrieve intentional information. 15 schizophrenic patients were presented with two scripts (describing simple everyday actions) on a computer screen and were then told that they would later have to perform either script 1 or 2 (i.e. the intended script). Following this, they received a timed recognition memory task consisting of single target words from the two scripts, along with semantic and unrelated distractors. Unlike the normal control subjects examined by Goschke and Kuhl, schizophrenic patients did not show the so-called intention superiority effect (i.e.. faster RTs to targets from the intended than the non-intended script). By contrast, they did show significantly faster latencies to semantic distractors in the intended than the non-intended script. These findings suggest that schizophrenic patients can form and monitor their inten- tions: however the intentions may lack specificity. In a post-hoc comparison of patients with normal and impaired executive function, the former showed an intention superiority effect for target and semantic distractors, while the latter showed an intention superiority only for semantic dis- tractors. We conclude that executive function plays a major role in the forming of specific intentions for schizophrenic patients; however, they may retain the ability to automatically form more generalised intentions without strategic executive control. ASSESSMENT OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA L. Krabbendam, M.M.A. Derix, J. Jolles DcTmrtment (ff'Ps:vch&tO' and Neuropsvchology, Maastricht I~)liversiO', Academic Department qf Neurop,trchology, P.sTchomedical Center V(jverdal, P.O. Box 88, 6200 AB Maastricht. The Netherlands Although it is widely accepted that schizophrenic patients often suffer from a pronounced impairment in executive func- tions, the nature of this deficit and particularly its impact on daily life is still difficult to assess with formal neuropsycho- logical test procedures. The present study explored the use of a recently developed test, the Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome (BADS; Wilson et al., 1996), in the assessment of executive dysfunctions in schizophrenia. Nineteen schizophrenic patients were tested with the BADS, as well as with standard tests of executive functions, such as the Modified Card Sorting Test (MCST) and the Tower of London (TOLL Daily functioning was assessed by independent raters using the Life Skills Profile (LSP). The control group consisted of 17 healthy volunteers, matched for age and level of education with the patient group. Performance of the schizophrenic group was significantly below that of the control group on the BADS (total score of five subtests) and the MCST (sum of persevera- tire and other errors), but not on the TOL. Analysis of the BADS on the level of subtests indicated that two subtests (Action Program and Zoo Map)differentiated between the two groups. A significant correlation was found between the BADS and the LSP. Results indicated that the BADS is a useful instrument for the detailed assessment of executive dysfunctions in schizophrenia. Moreover, performance on the BADS was related to the problems experienced in daily functioning. THE FACTOR STRUCTURE OF THE WCST: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SCHIZOPHRENIC PATIENTS AND CONTROLS S.L. Rossell, A.S. David hTstitute o/ P,~3'chiato', De7~artment o/ P,~3'chologicalMedicine, 103 Denmark Hill. London SE5 8AZ, UK The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) is a complex problem solving task that demands multiple cognitive skills