The loading equilibrium examination for etiologic diagnosis of Menière's disease.
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Adult↗
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Results for “HANDWRITING”
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Interaction between handedness and cerebral functional dominance.
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Agnosia↗
Directional preferences in perception of visual stimuli.
The present paper reviews a series of studies regarding the effects of hemispheric asymmetry and reading and writing habits on directional preferences in reproducing horizontally-displayed visual stimuli. Hebrew readers, English readers, and Arabic readers were presented with arrays of horizontally-displayed directional and nondirectional stimuli, as well as with single stimuli. They were asked to reproduce the stimuli, and the direction of their reproduction, left-right or right-left, was recorded for analysis. Generally, in reproducing arrays of stimuli, English readers showed left-right directionality, whereas Hebrew readers showed right-left directionality. But in reproducing arrays of English and Hebrew letters, subjects of both groups showed left-right and right-left preferences, respectively. However, the right-left directional preferences shown by Hebrew readers were weaker than the left-right preferences shown by English readers. It was hypothesized that these differences are due to differential reading and writing habits acquired in school by English- and Hebrew-readers. In support of the reading and writing habit hypothesis, it was subsequently found that: (a) Arabic readers, who have stronger right-left reading and writing habits than Hebrew readers, show relatively stronger right-left directional preferences, and (b) with the introduction of English as a foreign language in the fifth grade, children show an increase in left-right directionality. Further investigation showed that, depending on the experimental conditions, directional preferences may be a function of either reading and writing habits, or hemispheric asymmetry, or both. Finally, the bearing of these findings on the "nature-nurture" controversy regarding the development of perceptual exploration in children is discussed.
Dominance, Cerebral↗
Temporal and spatial characteristics in repetitive movement.
The question addressed is whether temporal or spatial characteristics of a movement sequence are represented in a motor program. Subjects executed one to five straight-line strokes as fast as possible on a digitizing tablet. The duration and length of each stroke were computed and intercorrelated. Nineteen out of 20 possible correlations were significant for length per stroke data while only one of the 20 correlations was significant for duration. Further, performance data on the five stroke patterns were sorted to examine whether the first stroke determined the overall temporal/spatial pattern of the subsequent strokes executed. It was found that only sorting by length of the first stroke produced different subsets of movement patterns. These results are argued to be in support of the hypothesis that the spatial microstructure is controlled in a prepared movement sequence.
Female↗
Torque and cerebral lateralization: a questionable link.
Past research has suggested that torque (the tendency to draw circles in a clockwise direction) may be indicative of less cerebral lateralization. This notion is based on the finding that left-handers demonstrate a greater incidence of torque than right-handers. The present study attempted to investigate this relationship using both conjugate lateral eye movements (CLEM) and handedness as indices of cerebral lateralization. Subjects were 40 male and 40 female right-handed and 16 male and 16 female nonright-handed university students. Consistent with past studies, torque was significantly related to handedness, with nonright-handers demonstrating a greater incidence of torque. However, no relationship between torque and CLEM was found. On the basis of these findings, it is argued that the observed relationship between torque and handedness may be due more to muscle mechanics of the hands rather than any relationship with cerebral lateralization.
Adult↗
The left brain determines the degree of left-handedness.
The contribution of right- and left-hand skills to left-handedness was studied in 42 left-handed male subjects. Hand preference was assessed by the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory. Hand skill was assessed by a peg-moving task; 10 trials were given to each hand. Peg-moving times decreased linearly with each trial (visuomotor learning). Both hands exhibited equal learning capacities. The learning curves were the same for the left-hands of left-handers with and without familial sinistrality (FS). The right-hand of left-handers with FS was found to be slower than that without FS. The right- and left-hand skills and their learning curves were about the same in left-handers with right-hand writing, exhibiting no difference from the left-hand skill and learning curve of left-handers with left-hand writing. Right-hand skill decreased linearly as left-hand preference increased from -40 to -100; left-hand skill was not related to hand preference. Right-minus left (R-L) time for peg moving increased linearly with hand preference from -40 to -100. R-L time for peg moving linearly decreased as the right-hand skill increased; the left-hand skill was not associated with R-L time for peg moving. It was concluded that the right hand (left brain) determines left-handedness; the neural structures only on the left side exhibit pronounced plastic changes to genetic and environmental influences in left-handers.
Adult↗
Relation of hand skill to spatial reasoning in male and female left-handers with left- and right-hand writing.
The relation of mental ability for spatial reasoning (Cattell's Culture Fair Intelligence Test) to hand skill assessed by peg-moving task was studied in normal left-handers. Nonlinear, quadratic relationships were established between these two parameters exhibiting different characteristics according to sex and writing hand. It was concluded that the contributions of the right and left cerebral hemispheres to the cognitive-motor output of the brain depend on sex and writing hand as well as the degree of left-handedness in left-handers.
Adolescent↗
Relation of spatial reasoning ability to hand performance in male and female left-handers to familial sinistrality and writing hand.
The relation of mental ability for spatial reasoning to hand performance was studied in male and female left-handers considering familial sinistrality and writing hand. Hand performance was assessed by a dot-filling test; hand preference was assessed by the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (Geschwind scores). Nonverbal intelligence (spatial reasoning) was measured by the Cattell's Culture Fair Intelligence Test. The relationship between IQ and hand performance was found to be more complicated than expected. This was associated with sex, familial sinistrality, and writing hand, which created different patterns in interactions between motor and cognitive systems. It was concluded that the brain benefits from different strategies by using both hemispheres in a competitive and complementary manner where necessary to achieve a high visual-spatial performance depending upon genetic preprograms.
Adult↗
Auditory lateralization in monozygotic twins.
In an attempt to investigate whether auditory lateralization has a heritable component, 20 monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs were examined with four different dichotic listening tests known to produce reliable right-ear advantages (REAs) in right-handers. Ten twin pairs were concordantly right-handed (MZ-RR), and ten twin pairs were discordant for handedness (MZ-RL). Intraclass correlations for MZ twin pairs were weak or nonexistent for ear advantage, but relatively strong for overall correct scores and mean reaction times, measures unrelated to laterality scores. These results support the hypothesis that auditory lateralization, as measured with dichotic tests, is nongenetic in origin. A comparison of MZ twins and right-handed siblings (n = 20) showed that right-handed siblings exhibited strong REAs, whereas left-handed siblings (n = 20) and MZ twins showed weak or absent REAs, indicating that twins may be atypically lateralized with respect to auditory lateralization.
Adolescent↗
A voice-operated response unit for use in the psychological assessment of motor impaired subjects.
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Computers↗
Research and development of functional aids.
Four aids, developed by the Department for Research and Development from existing ideas and being used in Revalidatiecentrum "De Hoogstraat" by patients with a spinal cord injury, are described. These aids are: a dynamic elbow extension orthosis; a modified flexor hinge splint; a rolling writing aid, and a urinary device for females.
Elbow↗
Evaluation of an intuitive writing interface in robot-aided laser laparoscopic surgery.
OBJECTIVE: The feasibility of the conceptual Intuitive Writing Interface (IWI) in robot-aided laser laparoscopic surgery has been demonstrated previously. This paper investigates the potential improvement of IWI by comparing conventional manipulation (CM) and IWI manipulation (IM) and conducting an animal experiment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three tasks were designed that were considered to be representative of laser laparoscopic surgical procedures. All test participants used both CM and IM in all tasks. Completion time and error level of each task were taken as comparative indices and were integrated into a self-defined Index of Time and Error (ITE). Six sequential in vitro trials were carried out to investigate learning curves. In addition, nephrectomy was performed on a rabbit by employing IWI in robot-aided laser laparoscopic surgery. RESULTS: The results showed significant advantages for IM, with shorter completion time, more successful shots, and smaller error length in the three tasks, as compared to CM. The learning curve showed a promising trend for IM. More than half of the participants performed better with IM. The animal model experiment demonstrated the clinical feasibility of IM, but at the same time revealed some limitations. CONCLUSIONS: The new IWI interface definitely improved laser laparoscopic procedures by taking advantage of familiar writing skills. With its flexibility of implementation and ease of use, IWI has clear potential for use in laser laparoscopic procedures.
Animals↗
Writing-specific sites in frontal areas: a cortical stimulation study.
OBJECT: The aim of this study was to determine whether cortical areas involved in the writing process are associated with reading or naming areas in patients undergoing surgery for brain tumors in frontal areas. This study was undertaken to spare all language areas found in patients during surgery. METHODS: Fourteen patients (eight women and six men [mean age 47 years] of whom 12 were right handed, two left handed, 12 monolingual, and two bilingual) who harbored brain tumors in the left (11 patients) or right (three patients) frontal gyri or in rolandic areas, were tested by direct stimulation by using the awake surgery technique for direct brain mapping. Mapping of the frontal gyri was performed using naming, reading, and writing under dictation tasks in the appropriate language(s). Considerable individual variability in language organization among patients was observed. Interferences in writing were found during direct stimulation in the frontal gyri, in cortical sites common or not common to interferences in naming or reading. In dominant regions, patterns of writing dysfunctions were variable and included writing arrest, illegible script, letter omissions, and paragraphia. These dysfunctions were nonspecific (stimulation-induced eye movements) in nondominant frontal regions and in rolandic gyri (hand contractions). In the same patient, different writing impairments could sometimes be observed during stimulation of different sites. As is the case for naming or reading interference sites, writing interference sites could be extremely localized (1 cm2 in diameter). In this group of patients, writing interference sites found in Broca areas were associated with other sites of language interference, whereas writing-specific interference sites were found twice in the dominant middle frontal gyrus. CONCLUSIONS: In this series, we found that writing interference sites could be detected by direct cortical stimulation in dominant inferior and middle frontal gyri regardless of whether they were associated with naming or reading interference sites. Writing disorders elicited by direct stimulation in the frontal lobes are varied and probably depend on the functional status of the stimulated cortical area.
Adolescent↗
A Japanese logographic character frequency list for cognitive science research.
This paper describes a Japanese logographic character (kanji) frequency list, which is based on an analysis of the largest recently available corpus of Japanese words and characters. This corpus comprised a full year of morning and evening editions of a major newspaper, containing more than 23 million kanji characters and more than 4,000 different kanji characters. This paper lists the 3,000 most frequent kanji characters, as well as an analysis of kanji usage and correlations between the present list and previous Japanese frequency lists. The authors believe that the present list will help researchers more accurately and efficiently control the selection of kanji characters in cognitive science research and interpret related psycholinguistic data.
Cognitive Science↗
A template-matching pandemonium recognizes unconstrained handwritten characters with high accuracy.
Psychological data suggest that internal representations such as mental images can be used as templates in visual pattern recognition. But computational studies suggest that traditional template matching is insufficient for high-accuracy recognition of real-life patterns such as handwritten characters. Here we explore a model for visual pattern recognition that combines a template-matching and a feature-analysis approach: Character classification is based on weighted evidence from a number of analyzers (demons), each of which computes the degree of match between the input character and a stored template (a copy of a previously presented character). The template-matching pandemonium was trained to recognize totally unconstrained handwritten digits. With a mean of 37 templates per type of digit, the system has attained a recognition rate of 95.3%, which falls short of human performance by only 2%-3%.
Algorithms↗
Representing the dynamics of a static form.
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Form Perception↗
The equivalence of computerized and paper-and-pencil psychological instruments: implications for measures of negative affect.
The use of computerized psychological assessment is a growing practice among contemporary mental health professionals. Many popular and frequently used paper-and-pencil instruments have been adapted into computerized versions. Although equivalence for many instruments has been evaluated and supported, this issue is far from resolved. This literature review deals with recent research findings that suggest that computer aversion negatively impacts computerized assessment, particularly as it relates to measures of negative affect. There is a dearth of equivalence studies that take into account computer aversion's potential impact on the measurement of negative affect. Recommendations are offered for future research in this area.
Affect↗
Repeated writing facilitates children's memory for pseudocharacters and foreign letters.
In a logographic language culture, repeated (hand) writing is a common memory strategy for learning letters and Chinese characters. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether this strategy facilitates children's memory for pseudologographic characters and foreign letters. It also explores which aspect of writing, the use of stroke orders or the writing action itself, is responsible for the effect. First, third, and fifth grade Japanese children participated in the study. Results showed that, for all the subjects, characters and letters were better recalled when learned by writing rather than by looking only (Experiments 1 and 4). The advantage of writing was decreased, however, when the proper writing action prevented (i.e., when subjects were instructed to trace or write without feedback; Experiments 3 and 4) but not when the proper stroke orders were prevented (i.e., when subjects were instructed to write in reverse or random orders; Experiment 2). The results indicate that the writing action, rather than the use of stroke orders, is responsible for the effect.
Child↗