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PubMed2001

Is processing speed related to severity of language impairment?

Children with specific language impairment (SLI) typically respond more slowly on many tasks than do their typically developing peers. This paper addresses the question of whether speed of response is linearly related to severity of language impairment as measured by standardized test score. To address this question, we performed post hoc analyses of data from a study on lexical processing involving 66 children with SLI (mean age 6 years 9 months) and 66 typically developing children matched for age and nonverbal IQ. Response times derived from a series of tasks were correlated with language test scores. None of the Pearson correlations reached significance when corrected for number of correlations run, nor did a canonical correlation analysis reach significance. If these results are replicated in other studies, then they suggest that there is no direct linear relation between speed of processing and severity of language impairment as it is estimated from scores on standardized tests of language.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Differentiating between difficult-to-remediate and readily remediated poor readers: more evidence against the IQ-achievement discrepancy definition of reading disability.

In this article we discuss research bearing on the traditional use of the IQ-achievement discrepancy to define specific reading disability. We initially review the evidence presented by Rutter and Yule (1975) in support of this practice, and then discuss results from subsequent studies that have questioned the reliability of their findings. We also discuss results from more recent studies demonstrating that the IQ-achievement discrepancy does not reliably distinguish poor from normal readers, whereas language-based measures do reliably distinguish these groups. We highlight results from a study we recently completed, in which it was found that IQ scores did not differentiate between poor readers who were found to be readily remediated and poor readers who were difficult to remediate. In view of the convergent evidence against the use of IQ scores to define specific reading disability, we suggest that the IQ-achievement discrepancy definition of this disorder be discarded.

Child↗
PubMed1997

Identification and diagnostic evaluation of hearing impairments in early childhood in German-speaking infants.

The present study was devised to gather epidemiological information to aid in understanding the etiology, identification, and management of children with permanent hearing losses in Lower Saxony as a defined geographical area of Germany. All infants and preschool children were identified in the Department of Phoniatrics and Pediatric Audiology during a 1-year period (October 1994 until October 1995). Forty-four hearing-impaired children were identified, of whom 41 (93%) had sensorineural losses and 3 had pure conductive losses. Thirty-two children (73%) had bilateral hearing impairments. The causes of hearing loss were unknown in 17 children (39%). The median age of identification for the study group was 32 months, with a median age of 35.5 months when fitting hearing aids. Severity of hearing loss was inversely associated with age of identification. Prelingually deaf children had the worst comprehension levels of all children tested psychologically. Results were tabulated and special references to other studies were discussed. Our findings show again that the successful out-come of speech and language development depends on early identification and management of the hearing loss, and on continued assessment of the progress of habilitation. These require a basic assessment of the stage of language development (in perception and expression) as relevant rehabilitation measures. The next step is the treatment of existing linguistic deficits followed by retests at regular intervals.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Assessing the assessments: a comparison of two clinical pragmatic profiles.

Recent years have seen a growth in interest in pragmatic aspects of communication, and the application of this area to language disorders. This has led to the development of a range of "pragmatic profiles" to assess the disordered language of children and adults. In this study we investigate two such profiles designed for use with aphasic patients. In particular we look at aspects of interscorer reliability (comparing scorers from different linguistic traditions), scoring sensitivity (two- versus five-point scales), and diagnostic accuracy (the ability to differentiate different aphasic syndromes). We conclude that training in scoring these profiles must be uniform, but also that greater sensitivity is needed in the categories available.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Reliability and validity of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) Osteoarthritis Index in Italian patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.

OBJECTIVE: The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) Osteoarthritis (OA) Index is a tested questionnaire to assess symptoms and physical functional disability in patients with OA of the knee and the hip. We adapted the WOMAC for the Italian language and tested its metric properties in 304 patients with symptomatic OA of the knee. METHODS: Three hundred and four consecutive patients, attending 29 rheumatologic outpatient clinic in northern, central, and southern Italy, were asked to answer two disease-specific questionnaires (WOMAC and Lequesne algofunctional index) and one generic instrument (Medical Outcomes Study SF-36 Health Survey-MOS SF-36). A sample of 258 patients was readministered the WOMAC 7-10 days after the first visit and the structured interview, which also assessed demographic and other characteristics. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha, reliability using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs), and construct and discriminant validity using Spearman's correlations, Wilcoxon rank sum test, and Kruskal-Wallis test. RESULTS: All WOMAC subscales (pain, stiffness, and physical function) were internally consistent with Cronbach's coefficient alpha of 0.91, 0.81, and 0.84, respectively. Test-retest reliability was satisfactory with ICCs of 0.86, 0.68, and 0.89, respectively. In comparison with the SF-36, the expected correlations were found when comparing items measuring similar constructs, supporting the concepts of convergent construct validity. Very high correlations were also obtained between WOMAC scores and Lequesne OA algofunctional index. WOMAC physical function, but not WOMAC stiffness and pain subscales, was weakly associated with radiological OA severity (P=0.03). Also, WOMAC pain score was inversely correlated (P=0.01) with years of formal education. Examination of discriminant validity showed that the scores on the WOMAC and SF-36 followed hypothesized patterns: the WOMAC discriminated better among subjects with varying severity of knee problems, whereas the SF-36 discriminated better among subjects with varying levels of self-reported health status and comorbidity. CONCLUSION: The Italian version of WOMAC is a reliable and valid instrument for evaluating the severity of OA of the knee, with metric properties in agreement with the original, widely used version.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Neuropsychological effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or ecstasy) in recreational users.

While neuropsychological studies on 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or ecstasy) users have been emerging, results have been inconsistent, possibly due to methodological issues. The current study examined the performance of 22 recreational MDMA users compared to 28 age, education, and IQ comparable normal control subjects on a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests. Results revealed no significant differences in cognitive functioning between the MDMA users and normal controls. However, greater use of MDMA was associated with poorer scores on several measures of nonverbal memory, and greater frequency users (> or = 50 times) evidenced significantly lower scores on 2 of 3 nonverbal memory tests compared to lesser frequency users (< 50 times). Our results suggest that a subgroup of MDMA patients, specifically heavy MDMA users, evidence declines in nonverbal (visual) memory, however, other cognitive areas appear to be spared.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Mental ability, symbolic play and receptive and expressive language of young children with Down's syndrome.

The relationship between measures of mental ability, symbolic play and expressive and receptive language was investigated in a sample of 73 children with Down's syndrome (mean CA 48.9 months, range 19-90 months; mean MA 30.4 months, range 13-73 months). Language delay became increasingly apparent with age, and more so in boys than girls. There was no significant difference between mental ages derived from standard ability tests and corresponding age equivalent scores of the Lowe and Costello symbolic play test. A developmental progression of play similar to that seen in non-handicapped groups was found. However, it is suggested that the use of a more detailed scoring system would be informative.

Child↗
PubMed1999

Effect of literacy on neuropsychological test performance in nondemented, education-matched elders.

The current investigation compared neuropsychological test performance among nondemented literate and illiterate elders. The sample included participants in an epidemiological study of normal aging and dementia in the Northern Manhattan community. All participants were diagnosed as nondemented by a neurologist, and did not have history of Parkinson's disease, stroke, or head injury. Literacy level was determined by self-report. MANOVAs revealed a significant overall effect for literacy status (literate vs. illiterate) on neuropsychological test performance when groups were matched on years of education. The overall effect of literacy status remained significant after restricting the analyses to elders with no formal education, and after controlling for the effects of language of test administration. Specifically, illiterates obtained lower scores on measures of naming, comprehension, verbal abstraction, orientation, and figure matching and recognition. However tests of verbal list delayed recall, nonverbal abstraction, and category fluency were unaffected by literacy status, suggesting that these measures can be used to accurately detect cognitive decline among illiterate elders in this sample. Differences in organization of visuospatial information, lack of previous exposure to stimuli, and difficulties with interpretation of the logical functions of language are possible factors that contribute to our findings.

Aged↗
PubMed1980

Assessment of language comprehension of 6-year-old deaf children.

Sixty-five 6-yr-old children from the New York State Schools for the Deaf were given the assessment of children's language comprehension (ACLC), administered orally and manually, along with a specially designed test of receptive language, the syntax screening test. The responses on the ACLC were analyzed according to selected word types. The test stimuli were analyzed and classified into a hierarchy of linguistic complexity to evaluate the children's comprehension of various linguistic structures. Results show that comprehension of word types (nouns, verbs, etc.) and linguistic structure can be orderly, producing a hierarchy of complexity similar to that found in normally hearing children. However, performance was about 3 yr behind that of normally hearing peers.

Child↗
PubMed1977

Extended comprehension practice applied to an aphasic patient.

A 47-year-old aphasic patient was given extensive practice in the comprehension of single lexical items. Training was begun one month postonset and was discontinued four months postonset. Production practice was not administered during the treatment period. Comprehension and production improved as measured by a number of language assessment tests. The findings of this case study suggest that comprehension practice results in the improvement of verbal production. Discussion of the comprehension approach as a method of language training is included.

Aphasia↗
PubMed1991

The continuity of babble and speech in children with specific expressive language delay.

A natural language sample of babble and words was obtained for 37 two-year-olds with severe specific expressive language delay. Variables derived from this sample were used to predict individual differences in expressive language scores 5 months later. The rate of word use was positively related to language outcome, whereas rate of vowel babble was negatively related to outcome. Together, these two variables accounted for 41% of the variance in language outcome test scores. The addition of one nonlinguistic variable, a measure of behavior problems, allowed the prediction equation to account for over 50% of the variance in expressive language outcome. The single strongest correlate of language outcome was the proportion of consonantal to vowel babble. The degree of social responsiveness of babble and the length of babble were not related to later language scores. These findings indicate that for children with specific expressive language delay, vowel babble competes with expressive language, consonantal babble facilitates expressive language, and the length and social responsiveness of babble are independent of expressive language. The continuity between babble and speech is multidimensional and multidirectional.

Child Language↗
PubMed1975

Development of above normal language and intelligence 21 years after left hemispherectomy.

Neuropsychologic follow-up studies of a 5 1/2-year-old boy who had left hemispherectomy for seizures showed that he had developed superior language and intellectual abilities. These findings contrast with recent reports indicating that the plasticity of the nervous system may have been overrated and contradict reports of restricted development of language functions after left and of nonlanguage functions after right hemispherectomy for perinatal lateralized brain lesions. Following removal of the left hemisphere, including "the classical language zones," the right hemisphere and other intact residual structures may provide the necessary substrata for the development of above normal adult language and intellectual capacities.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

[Effects of test-expectancies and test-sequence orders on the recognition failure of recallable words].

Two experiments examined the effects of test-expectancies and test-sequence orders on the phenomenon of recognition failure. In Experiment 1, 18 college students, half of which were male and the other half were female, were randomly divided into two experimental groups. Half of the subjects studied the 42 cue word-target pairs in anticipation of a cued recall test, while the remaining subjects studied the pairs in anticipation of a recognition test. In Experiment 2, 36 college students (18 male and 18 female students) were randomly divided into two experimental groups. Half of the subjects were tested successively, first for recognition and then for recall, and the remaining subjects were tested in the reverse order. The results showed that the magnitude of recognition failure decreased when the subjects expected the recognition test. There were no appreciable sequential testing effects on the magnitude of recognition failure, however. These results imply that the phenomenon of recognition failure is not an artifactual one in the recognition-recall testing order, and that the magnitude depends on encoding conditions.

Adult↗