This paper examines schizophrenia primarily from the point of view of Piaget's genetic psychology. The authors believe that defects in the development of thinking and perception in the first two years of life are of utmost relevance to the psychopathology of this psychosis. They review a number of aspects of schizophrenic symptomatology and explain these defects in terms of Piaget's formulations and reinstatement of more elementary modes of mental functioning. They emphasize that schizophrenia is not the result of psychological processes, 'the purpose of which is to abolish anxiety and guilt … no matter