(Editor’s Note While these may not reflect the DSM-IV criteria, Schneider’s classic work remains a useful heuristic tool)
Hallucinated voices speaking the patient’s thoughts aloud.
Hallucinated voices talking or arguing among themselves about the patient.
Hallucinated voices describing the patient’s activity as it takes place.
Delusional percepts: a two-stage phenomenon consisting of a normal perception followed by a delusional interpretation of it as having a special and highly personalized significance.
Somatic passivity - the patient believes he is the passive recipient of bodily sensations imposed from the outside.
Thought insertion - the patient believes thoughts are put into his mind by an external force.
Thought withdrawal - the patient believes his thoughts are being removed from his mind by an outside force.
Thought broadcast - the patient believes his thoughts are somehow transmitted to others.
The patient believes his affect is controlled by an outside force.
The patient believes his impulses and/or motor activities are controlled by an outside force.
First rank symptoms are considered to be pathognomonic for schizophrenia in the absence of organic psychopathology. They are helpful but will yield many false positives. They should not be used as absolute criteria for diagnosis.