New scales for the assessment of schizotypy

This study reports the development of new scales for assessing schizotypal traits. The four scales measure unusual experiences, cognitive disorganisation, introvertive anhedonia and impulsive non-conformity. The scales were incorporated into a new questionnaire, the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings & Experiences (O-LIFE), in a form designed for use in the normal population and including filler items as well as the STA scale (as a known referent). Norms for the scales on a fresh sample of normal subjects (N = 508) are reported, including sex and age differences. All the scales were found to have adequate internal consistency (coeff. alpha s> 0.77). The items from the four new scales were submitted to factor analysis and a highly similar structure resulted. Their present and future use in psychosis-proneness research is discussed.