A method of analyzing responses to comic cartoons is presented as a means of studying social comprehension. The method was applied to 4 groups of patients: chronic schizophrenic, early schizophrenic, depressive, and neurotic.No group showed impairment in simple description of the environment depicted in the cartoons. Proceeding through the categories of Speakers, Action, Social Roles, Motivation, and Humor, decreasing adequacy of response was apparent for all groups. The CS group showed impairment in all these categories relative to the other 3 groups. For the ES patients there was a suggestion of deficit in Action, Motivation, and Humor; but these patients were clearly better than the CS group. The Dp and Nt groups did not differ from each other.The schizophrenic patient has difficulty in understanding social interactions, even in the simple situations depicted in the cartoons used here. Since the ES patients tended to have difficulty in the more complex categories, it is suggested that the ability to interpret these more complex aspects of interpersonal situations is impaired early in the course of schizophrenia.This method helps to clarify the nature of the schizophrenic difficulty in social interactions. Further development of the method may permit greater clarification of the psychopathology of interpersonal relations in various diagnostic groups.Abstract Teaser