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[The speech of hebephrenic patients (maladjustment between assimilation and accommodation)].

Previous studies indicate that schizophrenic thought processes show a disturbance in the balance between assimilation and accommodation, as Piaget uses these terms. The authors postulated that this phenomenon could also account for the typical language disorders of hebephrenics, particularly semantic slippage. Every fourth word was deleted from linguistic material produced by eight controls and thirteen hebephrenics (Silverman). Three judges were then asked to fill in the blanks. The deleted words used by the subjects were compared with the replacement words chosen by the judges. The comparison revealed such disorders in hebephrenic speech as semantic alteration (metaphorical and metonymic) of the linguistic tropic type and syntax disorders including inhibition of the expansion of phrases introduced by functional monemes (morphemes), whether primary or secondary. These observations confirm those of other authors, more especially those of Roch Lecours et al. On the basis of Martinet's functional linguistics, Chomsky's generative grammar and Piaget's cognitive psychology, the authors conclude that the psychopathology underlying hebephrenic speech is a disturbance of language rather than of parole and that hebephrenic syntactical distortions are linked to the disturbance in the balance between assimilation and accommodation characteristic of schizophrenic thought processes.

Adult↗

The cognitive assessment of limited-English-proficient children: current problems and practical recommendations.

Children from limited-English-proficient backgrounds are frequently assessed for the purposes of classification, educational placement decisions, and intervention planning. Problems inherent in the process of identifying their intellectual strengths and weaknesses are discussed, including questionable special education referrals, the use of English as the language of testing, the use of interpreters, the administration of normed tools, and the use of translated tests. Among the practical recommendations explored are prereferral activities, assessment of language dominance and proficiency, training of bilingual personnel, the integration of multiple assessment tools, adaptation of available measures, and alternative assessment models.

Child↗

The Language Research Center's Computerized Test System for environmental enrichment and psychological assessment.

In the spring of 1987, we undertook to provide environmental enrichment to nonhuman primate subjects in ways that would complement and even contribute to the bio-behaviorial science that justified the monkeys' captivity. Of course, the psychological well-being of captive primates--and indeed all research species-- has been an area of intense research activity since the 1985 amendment of the Animal Welfare Act. This mandate for researchers to ensure the psychological, as well as physical, fitness of experimental animals catalyzed the humane and scientific interests of the research community. The contemporary literature is replete with proposed means both of assaying and of providing enrichment and well-being. Notwithstanding, consensus on either assessment or intervention has yet to be reached. The paradigm we employed was modelled after successful efforts with chimpanzees. An automated test system was constructed in which subjects responded to computer tasks by manipulating a joystick. The tasks, interactive game-like versions of many of the classic testing paradigms of cognitive and comparative psychology, permitted the controlled presentation of stimuli and demands without the required presence of a human experimenter. Despite significant barriers to the success, rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) and a variety of other primate species (including, of course, humans) have mastered the skills necessary for testing in this paradigm. Previous experiments have illustrated the utility of the test system for addressing questions of learning, memory, attention, perception, and motivation. Additional data have been reported to support the contention that the Language Research Center's Computerized Test System (LRC-CTS) serves its other raison d'etre--providing environmental enrichment and assessing psychological well-being. This paper is designed to augment previous descriptions of the technology and the paradigm for scientists and caretakers interested in environmental enrichment and performance assessment with primates.

Animal Welfare↗

[Experiments on prosody perception with cochlear implants].

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Prosody has a myriad of linguistic functions and involves specific aspects of speech, such as stress, intonation and pauses. The underlying acoustic quantities (amplitude envelope, pitch frequency, and temporal structure) can be processed and transmitted by cochlear implants (CI) only to a limited extent. At present, no adequate tests are available in the German-speaking world for evaluation of the perception of prosodic elements. Different experiments have been conducted to address several prosodic cues, and the results are to be used as a basis for appropriate tests. METHODS: Various prosodic materials were used for the experiments. Discrimination was measured for minimal pairs differing in frequency and/or duration, accents in words and phrases, questions versus statements and phrasing. Measurements were performed in ten normal-hearing subjects and five with cochlear implants. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: In all test modules, the subjects with normal hearing proved to have high discrimination rates of 96-100%. The test of word stresses was problematic because the results were influenced by different confounders. The other measurements did prove to be basically suitable for use in the subjects with implants. Early results revealed that the subjects with CI had few problems with prosodic cues based on the temporal structure, the outcome being similar to that of the subjects with normal hearing in these tests. In contrast, the performance of subjects with CI in perceiving prosodic cues based on amplitude variations and, especially, on alterations in pitch frequency was worse, even though some of them achieved very good results in these tests too. These preliminary tests can form the basis for development of a German-language prosody test battery with a limited number of subtests addressing different prosodic cues.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

Evaluation for suspected language disorders in preschool children.

Pediatricians can identify a child with a developmental language disorder by expanding a traditional developmental assessment with special screening tests of language skills. They can direct parents to specialists who can define the nature of the language disturbance in more detail and predict its natural history. They must then support the parents as they learn to use the community resources available for remediation of their child. As more is learned about the biologic bases of normal and abnormal language development in children, pediatricians will undoubtedly have an even more central role in identification of patients with language disorders and education of their families.

Child Language↗

Cohesion in the discourse of normal and head-injured adults.

Cohesion strategies used by 3 normal and 3 head-injured adults were examined in both conversational and narrative conditions. Two major findings emerged. First, the head-injured subjects used different cohesion patterns from the normal adults in both conditions. Second, both groups used different cohesion patterns in the conversational and narrative conditions. The study highlights the importance of viewing the language of head-injured adults within the context of discourse. Testing the language system through narrative as well as conversational discourse is important since both conditions are characterized by their own distinctive internal structure and organization.

Adult↗

Evanston Northwestern Healthcare--right hemisphere screen.

This article consists of a screening test that has been developed and used by the speech-language pathologists at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare. It is an informal tool designed to quickly determine the cognitive and communication status of right hemisphere-injured patients and is most appropriate for use in acute care and transitional care settings, where speech-language pathologists are asked to determine whether or not a full evaluation is warranted.

Brain Diseases↗

Differentiation of dementia of the Alzheimer's type from depression with cognitive impairment on the basis of a cortical versus subcortical pattern of cognitive deficit.

This study compared 15 "mildly" cognitively impaired participants with Dementia of the Alzheimer Type (DAT), 15 depressed cognitively impaired participants (DCI), and 15 normal participants. The participants were matched for age, and reading ability, and were tested on a series of cognitive instruments selected on the basis of their ability to distinguish a cortical versus subcortical pattern of deficit. The DAT group demonstrated impaired performances on tests of language, praxis and gnosis. Deficits in these areas were absent from DCI group. There were differences between all of the groups on the California Verbal Learning Test, but after this effect was controlled using an analysis of covariance procedure, the differences in tests of gnosis, praxis and language function between the DCI and the DAT participants still remained. These findings support the clinical usefulness of the cortical-subcortical distinction in differentiating DCI from DAT.

Journal Article↗

Postictal language dysfunction in patients with right or bilateral hemispheric language localization.

PURPOSE: As shown previously, when temporal lobe complex partial seizures (TLCPS) originate from the language dominant hemisphere, patients cannot read a test phrase correctly within 60 s of the end of the ictal discharge. We wished to assess whether postictal language testing results discordant with this pattern identified patients with non-left (right hemisphere or mixed) language dominance. METHODS: Since 1988, all patients undergoing video/EEG monitoring at our institution have been given a test phrase to read aloud as soon as a seizure is detected. Inclusion criteria for this study were (a) postictal language testing within 60 s of seizure end for at least one TLCPS, (b) > 90% seizure reduction after anterior temporal lobectomy with 2-year minimum follow-up, and (c) language localization by either intracarotid amobarbital test (IAT) or direct electrical stimulation of left hemisphere cortex. RESULTS: Two hundred twenty-four seizures in 64 patients were analyzed. Discordant postictal language patterns were noted in 10 of 11 patients with IAT documented non-left language dominance and in 15 of 53 with left dominance (p = 0.006; sensitivity 90.9%, specificity 71.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Postictal language testing accurately identifies patients with non-left language dominance and may be useful in selecting appropriate patients for IAT.

Adult↗