THE STUDY IDENTIFIED A GROUP OF 44 INSTITUTIONALIZED MALE SCHIZOPHRENIC PATIENTS AGED 19 TO 26 AND SURVEYED DESCRIPTIONS OF THEIR HIGH SCHOOL BEHAVIOR FOR PREDICTIVE SYMPTOMS. INTERVIEWS USING AN 18-ITEM BEHAVIOR RATING FORM WERE CONDUCTED WITH THE PATIENTS' FORMER HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS. CONTROL SUBJECTS WERE ALSO RATED. ADDITIONAL DATA WERE OBTAINED FROM HIGH SCHOOL RECORDS. THREE CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGISTS USED THE DATA TO EVALUATE THE EMOTIONAL ADJUSTMENT OF SUBJECTS AND TO RANK THE SUBJECTS BY LIKELIHOOD OF LATER NEUROPSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALIZATION. THE PRESCHIZOPHRENIC AND CONTROL GROUPS DID NOT DIFFER SIGNIFICANTLY WHEN IN HIGH SCHOOL ON CONFORMITY TO RULES, MAINTENANCE OF PERSONAL APPEARANCE, OVERT EXPRESSIONS OF HOSTILITY, OR TENDENCY TO COMPLAIN. THE PRESCHIZOPHRENIC GROUP DIFFERED FROM THE CONTROL GROUP ON SELECTED ITEMS IN THEIR SCHOOL RECORDS--FEWER GRADUATED (.01 LEVEL), MORE ENROLLED IN THE GENERAL COURSE OF STUDY RATHER THAN THE COLLEGE PREPARATORY (.01), MORE HAD FOREIGN LANGUAGES AS BEST SUBJECTS, PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND MATHEMATICS AS POOREST (.001), FAILED ENGLISH, SOCIAL STUDIES, AND MATHEMATICS (.02), HAD AN OVERALL DECLINING GRADE PATTERN (.02), HAD A GRADE POINT AVERAGE ONE POINT LOWER (.001), HAD POORER ATTENDANCE (.02), SHOWED LESS INTEREST IN SPORTS AND DRAMATICS (.05), AND HAD LOWER IQ SCORES (.05) . THE JUDGES WERE CORRECT IN THEIR OVERALL PREDICTIONS OF LATER HOSPITALIZATION OR SATISFACTORY ADJUSTMENT IN THREE OUT OF EVERY FOUR CHOICES. THE CLASSIFICATIONS BY THE JUDGES OF THE EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS OF BOTH GROUPS AT THE TIME THEY WERE IN HIGH SCHOOL DIFFERED SIGNIFICANTLY (ACTING OUT .05, WITHDRAWAL .001, NO MARKED PROBLEM. 001). THE RATINGS BY THE JUDGES OF THE MENTAL HEALTH OF THE TWO GROUPS ALSO DIFFERED SIGNIFICANTLY (.001 LEVEL). AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE, A REVIEW OF PREVIOUS RESEARCH FINDINGS AND PROBLEMS, AND A DISCUSSION OF CHARACTERISTICS, CAUSES, AND INCIDENCE OF SCHIZOPHRENIA ARE PROVIDED. APPENDIXES INCLUDE THE INTERVIEW RATING SCALE, EIGHT TABLES, AND ONE-PAGE SUMMARIES OF INTERVIEW DATA FOR THE 88 SUBJECTS. A REFERENCE LIST CITES 34 ITEMS. (TE)