Positive and negative symptoms and Jackson. A conceptual history

Abstract

The old distinction between positive and negative symptoms has of late been reclaimed to describe the symptomatology of schizophrenia. The commonly held view that it originated with J. H. Jackson is inaccurate. This distinction should be attributed to J. R. Reynolds; current usage is reynoldian in that it does not presuppose the complex theoretical model that characterized the jacksonian view.