A comparative study of the work performance of normal and schizophrenic workers was undertaken in the Rehabilitation Unit of Cheadle Royal Hospital. (Wadsworth, Scott and Wells, 1961). A group of 12 long-stay schizophrenics with a mean duration of hospitalization of 17 years, ±12·3 were matched with 12 normal subjects recruited to perform a normal industrial task. The task studied was the assembly, by gluing, of crepe to board; one of the initial stages in the manufacture of a carnival hat. The purpose of the study was to obtain comparative data that would help one to produce indices of employability, rather than to make evaluative statements which would relate only to mental hospital standards.