Acquired surface alexia in Spanish: a case report

This paper reports a case study of acquired surface alexia in Spanish and discusses the most suitable tests to detect this syndrome in a writing system that is very regular for reading at the segmental and supra-segmental levels. Patient MM has surface alexia characterized by quantitatively good performance in reading words and pseudowords; accurate but slow and syllabic reading of words, nonwords and sentences; good performance in lexical decision tasks including words and nonwords; errors in lexical decision with pseudohomophones; and homophone confusions. This pattern of reading can be interpreted as a disorder in the lexical reading route and overdependence on the non-lexical route. We discuss nonlexical impairments and the interpretation of alexia and suggest tasks to identify surface alexia in a shallow orthography.     

Impaired activation of the phonological lexicon: effects upon oral reading

The role of the phonological lexicon in oral reading is examined in a patient with a small focal left hemisphere lesion. Impaired access to the patient's phonological lexicon is suggested by a number of findings, including the production of phonemic errors across a variety of tasks; increasing difficulty in word production with increasing word length; and difficulty on tests of homophone and rhyme judgments. Two competing models of reading are tested: the nonlexical ("rules") and the lexical ("no-rules") models. The rules model predicts that a disturbance in the phonological lexicon will result in surface alexia; the no-rules model predicts phonological alexia. Results indicate that the patient's reading is most similar to phonological alexia, providing support for the no-rules model. The applicability of the no-rules model to other forms of acquired alexia is explored.     

基于认知诊断测评的个性化补救教学效果分析：以“一元一次方程”为例

基于“为学习而测评”理念,以促进学生学习为目的,本研究进行了基于认知诊断测评的个性化补救教学效果分析。首先,以“一元一次方程”章节为例,编制两份平行的认知诊断测评试卷。然后,通过对不同地区（城市和农村）七年级学生的施测与分析,发现城市学生对属性的掌握情况优于农村学生对属性的掌握情况。之后,选择农村学生为补救对象,通过对比基于认知诊断测评和传统教学两种个性化补救教学的效果,发现两种补救教学方法均能提高学习成绩,但前者的补救效果显著优于后者的。总之,本研究结果表明采用基于认知诊断测评的个性化补救教学能够有效促进学生学习,为实践者应用认知诊断测评促进学生学习提供了实践依据。     

Varieties of alexia from fusiform, posterior inferior temporal and posterior occipital gyrus lesions

Reading impairments of three alexia patients, two pure alexia and one alexia with agraphia, due to different lesions were examined quantitatively, using Kanji (Japanese morphogram) words, Kana (Japanese phonetic writing) words and Kana nonwords. Kana nonword reading was impaired in all three patients, suggesting that widespread areas in the affected occipital and occipitotemporal cortices were recruited in reading Kana characters (corresponding to European syllables). In addition, the findings in patient 1 (pure alexia for Kanji and Kana from a fusiform and lateral occipital gyri lesion) and patient 2 (pure alexia for Kana from a posterior occipital gyri lesion) suggested that pure alexia could be divided into two types, i.e. ventromedial type in which whole-word reading, together with letter identification, is primarily impaired because of a disconnection of word-form images from early visual analysis, and posterior type in which letter identification is cardinally impaired. Another type of alexia, alexia with agraphia for Kanji from a posterior inferior temporal cortex lesion (patient 3), results from deficient whole-word images of words per se, and thus should be designated "orthographic alexia with agraphia". To account for these impairments, a weighted dual-route hypothesis for reading is suggested.     

Do remedial programs really work?

The results of an evaluative study demonstrate that the remedial reading-writing program at a large urban community junior college did not produce any meaningful differences in student withdrawals from college or in grade point averages during the second semester of college; did not improve achievement in social science, humanities, or English courses; and did not result in higher scores on writing and reading tests for those students in the remedial program than for those in a randomly selected control group who did not participate in the program.     

Rapid word identification in pure alexia is lexical but not semantic

Following the notion that patients with pure alexia have access to two distinct reading strategies-letter-by-letter reading and semantic reading-a training program was devised to facilitate reading via semantics in a patient with pure alexia. Training utilized brief stimulus presentations and required category judgments rather than explicit word identification. The training was successful for trained words, but generalized poorly to untrained words. Additional studies involving oral reading of nouns and of functors also resulted in improved reading of trained words. Pseudowords could not be trained to criterion. The results suggest that improved reading can be achieved in pure alexia by pairing rapidly presented words with feedback. Focusing on semantic processing is not essential to this process. It is proposed that the training strengthens connections between the output of visual processing and preexisting orthographic representations.     

Neuropsychological evaluation and rehabilitation in mental retardation

A discussion is provided of issues related to neuropsychological assessment of mentally retarded individuals. The first matters considered are test selection in relation to mental age and diagnostic issues. Various methods of evaluation are then considered, including assessment of orientation to sound and visual stimuli, language comprehension, right-left discrimination, and abstract and symbolic processes. Methods are also reviewed for detailed evaluation of language functions including testing for aphasia and for academic skills such as reading, writing, and calculation, as well as for spatial and constructional abilities. A section is devoted to use of neuropsychological assessment for rehabilitation of various disorders such as congenital aphasia, alexia, and spatial-constructional disorders.     

The use of reaction time measures to evaluate nonword reading in primary progressive aphasia

We reported on a subject with nonfluent primary progressive aphasia (PPA), NL, who demonstrated an impaired ability to make rhyme judgments (Dowhaniuk, Dixon, Roy, Black, & Square, in press). Our hypothesis was that these deficits represent a precursor to phonological alexia. However, no definitive evidence supported the existence of a phonological reading impairment as NL made relatively few errors reading nonwords. To further evaluate NL's nonword reading, nonword and real word reaction times were compared. NL's reaction times were significantly longer for only nonwords compared to the slowest control subject. We then assessed the first two stages of processing involved in nonword reading (Coltheart, 1996). NL did not demonstrate deficits with graphemic parsing or phoneme assignment. His continuing problems with auditory rhyme judgments support the presence of a phonological processing deficit not specific to reading. We conclude that reaction time measures allow for the detection of subtle nonword reading deficits.     

A Monte Carlo method for comparing generalized estimating equations to conventional statistical techniques for discounting data

Discounting is the process by which outcomes lose value. Much of discounting research has focused on differences in the degree of discounting across various groups. This research has relied heavily on conventional null hypothesis significance tests that are familiar to psychologists, such as t‐tests and ANOVAs. As discounting research questions have become more complex by simultaneously focusing on within‐subject and between‐group differences, conventional statistical testing is often not appropriate for the obtained data. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) are one type of mixed‐effects model that are designed to handle autocorrelated data, such as within‐subject repeated‐measures data, and are therefore more appropriate for discounting data. To determine if GEE provides similar results as conventional statistical tests, we compared the techniques across 2,000 simulated data sets. The data sets were created using a Monte Carlo method based on an existing data set. Across the simulated data sets, the GEE and the conventional statistical tests generally provided similar patterns of results. As the GEE and more conventional statistical tests provide the same pattern of result, we suggest researchers use the GEE because it was designed to handle data that has the structure that is typical of discounting data.     

Age-of-acquisition effects in pure alexia

Pure alexia is an acquired reading disorder in which previously literate adults adopt a letter-by-letter processing strategy. Though these individuals display impaired reading, research shows that they are still able to use certain lexical information in order to facilitate visual word processing. The current experiment investigates the role that a word's age of acquisition (AoA) plays in the reading processes of an individual with pure alexia (G.J.) when other lexical variables have been controlled. Results from a sentence reading task in which eye movement patterns were recorded indicated that G.J. shows a strong effect of AoA, where late-acquired words are more difficult to process than early-acquired words. Furthermore, it was observed that the AoA effect is much greater for G.J. than for age-matched control participants. This indicates that patients with pure alexia rely heavily on intact top-down information, supporting the interactive activation model of reading.     

Age-of-acquisition effects in pure alexia

Pure alexia is an acquired reading disorder in which previously literate adults adopt a letter-by-letter processing strategy. Though these individuals display impaired reading, research shows that they are still able to use certain lexical information in order to facilitate visual word processing. The current experiment investigates the role that a word's age of acquisition (AoA) plays in the reading processes of an individual with pure alexia (G.J.) when other lexical variables have been controlled. Results from a sentence reading task in which eye movement patterns were recorded indicated that G.J. shows a strong effect of AoA, where late-acquired words are more difficult to process than early-acquired words. Furthermore, it was observed that the AoA effect is much greater for G.J. than for age-matched control participants. This indicates that patients with pure alexia rely heavily on intact top-down information, supporting the interactive activation model of reading.     

Preserved Semantic Priming Effect in Alexia

BH, a left-handed patient with alexia and nonfluent aphasia, was presented with a lexical-decision task in which words and pronounceable pseudowords were preceded by semantically related or unrelated picture primes (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, BH was given an explicit reading task using the word lists from Experiment 1. Performance on Experiment 2 disclosed severe reading deficits in both oral reading and semantic matching of the words to pictures. However, in Experiment 1, BH demonstrated a significant semantic priming effect, responding more accurately and more quickly to words preceded by related primes than by unrelated primes. The present results suggest that even in a patient with severe alexia, implicit access to semantic information can be preserved in the absence of explicit identification. The possibility of categorical gradient in implicit activation (living vs. nonliving) in BH was also discussed, which, however, needs to be clarified in the further investigation.     

Alexia with agraphia due to the left posterior inferior temporal lobe lesion--neuropsychological analysis and its pathogenetic mechanisms

We report three cases of alexia with agraphia due to the left posterior inferior temporal lesions. In Case 1, the reading disability was more prominent in the use of Kana than in the use of Kanji, which is similar to previously reported cases of alexia with agraphia due to angular gyrus lesion. In Cases 2 and 3, by contrast, the reading disability was more prominent in the use of Kanji than in the use of Kana. In spontaneous writing and dictation, the disability was more pronounced in the use of Kanji compared with the use of Kana. In each of the three cases, the CT scan and positron emission tomography showed a localized lesion in the lower part of the left posterior temporal lobe. A typical form of an alexia with agraphia could be caused not only by the left angular lesion but also by the left posterior inferior temporal lesion. We discuss the neuropsychological analysis and pathogenetic mechanisms of alexia with agraphia due to the left posterior inferior temporal lesion in the comparison of alexia with agraphia caused by the left angular lesion.     

Unilateral agraphia after section of the posterior half of the truncus of the corpus callosum

A Japanese patient who had undergone section of the posterior half of the truncus of the corpus callosum in the process of removing an arteriovenous malformation was examined with a battery of special tests. He showed agraphia only with the left hand (unilateral agraphia). The agraphia was more prominent for the words written in Kana characters (phonograms) than for the words written in Kanji characters (ideograms). The patient showed neither unilateral apraxia, nor tactile alexia, nor tactile anomia.     

L’apport des tests d’aptitudes dans le recrutement : l’exemple de la NV5-R

From the observation of a limited use of aptitude tests in the recruitment process, this article attempts to illustrate the relevance of such tests from applied research on the recruitment of sales persons. Thus, 32 candidates have participated in the recruitment process that is traditionally practiced by the organization, to which we have added three of the subtests of the battery NV5-R. The comparison of the scores at this test and the results of the classical procedure of recruitment for each subject shows that similar information is obtained by these two methods of selection. The contribution of aptitude tests in selection procedures has been discussed in terms of these results while laying the limitations of this study.     

Iconic reading in a case of alexia without agraphia caused by a brain tumor: a tachistoscopic study

The lack of nonverbal reading comprehension in the clinical disconnection syndrome, alexia without agraphia, has been contradictory to the relative reading comprehension of the right hemisphere in split brains. We report a 39-year-old patient with verbal alexia without agraphia caused by brain tumor. On rapid tachistoscopic presentation of object names, he denied seeing anything but showed nonverbal reading comprehension by pointing to the corresponding objects. He lost this ability when he recovered ability to name individual letters of the object names. Our results suggest that even partial verbal reading such as the naming of single letters makes demonstration of iconic reading impossible and that total functional disconnection from verbalization, as initially noted in this case or in split brain studies, is necessary to show nonverbal reading comprehension.     

Variability of Practice and Contextual Interference in Motor Skill Learning

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether learning benefits in multiple-task learning situations are a result of contextual interference or of schema enhancement related to the amount of variability in the practice session. Two experiments were designed that replicated and extended the experiment reported by Wulf and Schmidt (1988). In a 2 (same vs. different relative time) x 2 (blocked vs. random practice schedule) design, 48 right-handed subjects were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions. A tapping task was employed that required a right-handed tap of three small brass plates arranged in a diamond pattern. Each segment had a specific time requirement. Target times and response times were provided on a computer screen directly in front of the subject. Each subject participated in two acquisition sessions (i.e., 198 practice trials) and was tested for learning on several different retention and transfer tests. In Experiment 2, a control group was added that received no acquisition phase. Results of both experiments showed a typical contextual interference effect, with depressed scores by the random groups during acquisition but significantly better scores than the blocked groups on several retention and transfer tests. Certain characteristics of the tests were found to influence the demonstration of the practice schedule effects. These results were consistent with predictions from Magill and Hall (1990) that the learning benefits of contextual interference are more likely to occur when skill variations are from different classes of movement and that the amount of variability in practice is more influential when the to-be-learned tasks are parameter modifications of the same generalized motor program.     

ACQUISITION OF ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS IN SENTENCES WRITTEN BY HEARING IMPAIRED AND APHASIC CHILDREN

The effect of an instructional package, which included modeling, reinforcement, and remedial feedback on the rate, accuracy, and topography of sentences composed by four hearing impaired and aphasic children, was examined. In a specially designed classroom, students wrote sentences describing a stimulus picture on acetate sheets placed on the stage of an overhead projector which was built into each student's desk. This arrangement provided the teacher and other students immediate and continuous visual access to each student's sentences. In a multiple baseline design across behaviors, model sentences were projected and token reinforcment and remedial feedback were made contingent upon writing correct sentences containing prenominal adjectives only, then adverbs only, then prenomial adjectives plus adverbs. During baseline all students displayed poor written language skills and seldom wrote sentences containing modifiers. When the instructional package was implemented, all students demonstrated significant increases in response rate, accuracy, and percentage of correct sentences including prenominal adjectives and adverbs.     

A Neo-Lurian Approach to Assessment and Remediation

The first part of this article presents an operational battery of tasks for measuring the four cognitive processes of Planning, Arousal–Attention, and Simultaneous and Successive processing (PASS) not only based on the qualitative data provided in Luria's syndrome analysis, but also taken from tasks in experimental cognitive psychology and neuropsychology. The second part of the article presents a remedial program based on PASS for enhancement of reading. Because this part provides in some detail the efficacy of the remedial procedure, it simultaneously validates the PASS constructs as well. In both parts of the article, I have been unmistakably guided by Luria's views: Tests are approaches to investigating cognitive functions, and the purpose of testing is to guide rehabilitation.     

Prosopagnosia: a defect in visual configural processing

A patient with severe, lasting prosopagnosia could not get an immediate overview of a face sufficiently specific for successful identification. He also failed completely in tasks of visual closure despite adequate performances on numerous other tests of visual perception and memory. We conclude that prosopagnosia represents a loss of visual "configural processing"--a learned skill enabling immediate identification of individual members of a class without conscious visuospatial analysis or remembering. Prosopagnosia and agnosic alexia represent two distinct defects of configural processing: Alexics cannot identify items with distinctive features that are themselves identifiable. Prosopagnosics cannot identify objects whose critical distinguishing features have no independent identities.