Over the last decades, in matters of the assessment of psychopathology and its clinical consequences, there has been an increased interest in neurocognitive function including non-social and social cognition.

Classic psychopathology -as represented e.g. by the standardized AMDP system- focuses on pathognomonic signs for the categorization of syndromes [1] and differentiates between disturbances of perception, concentration, memory retention and long-term memory. A recent short screen for cognitive impairment in psychiatry (SCIP) has addressed five domains of cognitive function: verbal learning–immediate, working memory, verbal fluency, verbal learning–delayed and processing speed [2].

Using the SCIP in admissions from a defined catchment area in the southwest of Vienna we confirm the presence of cognitive deficits in schizophrenic patients and to a lesser degree in bipolar patients. The deficits were present in all five domains and no discriminatory pathognomonic signs could be found between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Recently, possibly selective deficits in social cognition have been described in schizophrenic patients [3]. We review the evidence on the specificity of social impairment to schizophrenia.