Cognitive training for divergent thinking in schizophrenia: a pilot study.

Individuals with schizophrenia demonstrate deficits in divergent thinking. This ability is indispensable for generating creative solutions and navigating the complexities of social interactions. In a pilot study, seventeen stable schizophrenia outpatients were randomly assigned to a training program for divergent thinking or a control program on convergent thinking. After eight weeks of training, participants in the divergent thinking program had significantly greater improvements on measures of idea fluency, negative symptoms, and interpersonal relations than did participants receiving the control program. These preliminary results suggest that interventions for divergent thinking in schizophrenia may lead to improvements in patients' social functioning.