The psychopathology of everyday art: a quantitative Study - World ...

differences in measurement systems. The finding that paintings of schizophrenics were
both low in yellow and black, according to table 2 seems to be contradictory.
'Neutral' colours: Blue and brown were indistinguishable for all groups and the range of
scoring was not wide. Blue was used moderately and brown was little used, controls used
less than any other colour, although they used more than patients (but not significantly
more). The groups most expected to use brown, seen as a dark dismal colour, were
schizophrenics and depressives, but they used less than any other colour. There was
thus no support for the use of blue or brown as an indicator of depression, psychosis or
patient status.
Indications for removal of colours/alterations: The removal of green, which was
associated in three patient groups; and blue and brown, which were non-discriminatory,
would effectively eliminate related colours in patient groups. Removal of associated
colours in controls would eliminate discriminatory factors. It would be useful to
discriminate pencil lines from black to eliminate ambiguity of media.
Summary for colour
It was expected that there would be correlations between bright and warm colours: red,
yellow and green and between any or all of green, blue, brown and black. Patients
generally, but especially schizophrenics and depressives, were expected to produce less
on the paper, use less colours, show preference for red and black and controls for
multiple colours, especially the brighter warmer colours.
quantification of colour and space, but generally this method and how many colours were measured was
undescribed. One result out of a possible 10 would not exceed chance expectations.
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