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Abstract
Chronic schizophrenics are difficult to motivate due to volitional and psychomotor problems. These problems have been attributed to proprioceptive and vestibular deficits, long term institutionalization, and an inactive life style. This research contributes to the knowledge gained from previous studies which compared purposeful activities (added purpose or dual motive) with pure exercise (single purpose) to determine which is more motivating to the doer. The results supported two hypotheses, that chronic schizophrenics (N = 18) performing arm rotations with a ribbon stick (added purpose activity) would do significantly more rotations (t = 3.64, p = .001) and perform for a significantly longer period of time (t = 3.23, p = .003) when compared with performing arm rotations without the ribbon stick (single purpose activity). Recommendations are made for replicating this study in other mental health settings and with other populations such as the mentally retarded and the elderly.