Forewarned is not necessarily forearmed: The deficit in avoidance learning manifested by head injury survivors is not the result of impaired anticipation

We examined a putative anticipatory behavior deficit among 21 closed head injury survivors. Deficits in performance appeared to result from impairment related to some facet of attention, rather than a problem anticipating consequences. Subjects' performance on a task sensitive to deficient anticipation suggests that avoidance learning deficits are not the result of deficient anticipation. Fourteen outpatient schizophrenics also demonstrated generalized impairment on avoidance learning compared to normal control performance.