Limited aspects of Blinder's pragmatically derived classification of depressives based on syndrome characteristics were assessed. Blinder's syndrome descriptions were cast into items for an observer-rated interview and into a parallel, patient-rated schedule. Interobserver ratings were statistically reliable (γ′ = .78, p < .001). Patients' self-ratings were positively related to observer ratings (γ′ = .69, p = 01), but observers rated patients as more depressed than patients rated themselves (t = 2.93, p = .01). Observer ratings only were factor analyzed. The unrotated factors obtained accorded better with previous factor analytic studies than with the syndrome aspect of Blinder's pragmatic classification.
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