The findings of improvement in social functioning for those trained in social skills from the present study are even more noteworthy given the marked persistence of psychotic symptoms in most subjects throughout the 2-year study. In addition, subjects had problems with distractibility, poor attention span, and memory deficits. The failure of some investigators to document generalization of social skills training may derive from their failure to appreciate the learning disabilities of schizophrenic patients and the consequent need for training procedures to overcome these disabilities through 1) lengthy and repetitive training sessions that are measured in months or years, not weeks; 2) opportunities and encouragement to practice the skills in real life; and 3) reinforcement for the use of the skills in community life.