Voice onset time in aphasia: Thai II. Production

The aim of this study was to investigate voice onset time (VOT) production in homorganic word-initial stops in Thai in order to explore the nature of speech production deficits across clinical varieties of aphasia. Thai exhibits a three-category distinction in bilabial (/b,p,ph/) and alveolar (/d,t,t,h/) stops, and a two-category distinction in velar (/k,kh/) stops. Subjects included three Broca asphasics, one transcortical motor asphasic, two global asphasics, one conduction aphasic, one Wernicke aphasic, one nonaphasic dysarthric patient, one right-brain-damaged patient, and five normal controls. Test stimuli consisted of eight monosyllabic real words. The results of VOT measurements indicated that Broca and global asphasics exhibited a more severe production disorder than Wernicke, conduction, or transcortical motor asphasics. The right-brain-damaged patient showed no impairment in VOT production. Comparisons are drawn to earlier studies of VOT production in aphasia in two-category languages. Issues concerning the underlying basis of the production deficit for nonfluent aphasics, fluent aphasics, and nonaphasic dysarthrics as well as the relation between perception and production of VOT are discussed.     

Comprehending homographs in aphasia

This study assessed 13 aphasic subjects' knowledge of the multiple meanings of homographs. The results indicated that the various meanings were less available to aphasic subjects than to normal subjects. In addition, specific meanings became less available as they became less typical although the number of meanings associated with a homograph did not influence performance. Aphasia type also did not influence performance. Performance on the experimental test was significantly correlated with auditory comprehension level and picture naming ability. The results were related to recent findings on semantic organization in aphasia.     

Comments on Hughes and Sussman''s time-sharing study of cerebral laterality in language-disordered and normal children

M. Hughes and H. M. Sussman (1983, Brain and Language, 19, 48-64) suggest that the time-sharing paradigm "does not serve as an adequate behavioral index for language lateralization in children." The merits of this conclusion are considered and general interpretative issues regarding manual interference in dual-task/time-sharing studies are discussed.     

Sensitivity to lexical denotation and connotation in brain-damaged patients: A double dissociation?

Sets of words can be grouped in terms of their denotation (cold and warm both refer literally to temperature) or in terms of their connotation (cold and warm connote remoteness and intimacy, respectively). To assess whether these two facets of meaning are dissociable, unilaterally left- and right-hemisphere-damaged patients were presented with word triads and asked to group together the two words that were closest in meaning. Right-hemisphere-damaged patients showed a preserved sensitivity to denotation, and a selective insensitivity to connotative facets of meanings. In contrast, left-hemisphere-damaged patients exhibited a preserved sensitivity to connotation as well as a selective insensitivity to denotative aspects of meanings. Inasmuch as normal control subjects displayed a flexible sensitivity to both denotative and connotative aspects of meaning, the results suggest that unilateral brain damage selectively curtails use of one or the other major aspect of word meaning.     

Possible effects of forced report order on tachistoscopic recognition of bilaterally presented stimuli: A response to Young and Ellis

Comparing visual field asymmetries for bilaterally presented words and corresponding line drawings, we found an RVF advantage for words and no visual field asymmetry for line drawings. We suggested that the RVF advantage previously obtained by Young, Bion, and Ellis (Brain and Language, 11, 54–65, 1980) for bilaterally presented line drawings may have resulted from a forced order of report procedure, noting that the RVF advantage was greater on trials on which subjects were forced to report in the nonpreferred right-to-left order. Young and Ellis (Brain and Language, 20, 166–171, 1983) attempt to discredit this claim and maintain their hypothesis that the RVF advantage for line drawings is attributable to better temporary storage of these stimuli by the left than the right hemisphere. In the present article, we present in greater detail our arguments for the effects of forced order of report on the perception of bilaterally presented stimuli and refute Young and Ellis's ibid. criticisms of this proposal.     

Language and the young stutterer: A new look at old theories and findings

The major theories and research approaches as to the etiology and development of stuttering are reviewed from a historical perspective. Findings are drawn from different sources indicating that language deficits are an initial contributing factor and a continuing component of this disorder. Those subsets of children which constitute high-risk groups are identified. It is suggested that researchers begin investigating the underlying organic bases of stuttering and its relationship to stages of language development. Finally, clinicians are encouraged to employ a therapy program that is concerned with all areas of language, rather than emphasizing treating only the symptoms of stuttering behavior.     

Speech comprehension after unilateral injection of sodium amytal

A unilateral cerebral dominance model predicts that speech comprehension will be disrupted after injection of sodium amytal into one hemisphere but not after the other. This model was supported when an auditory receptive task involving relatively nonredundant stimuli similar to that contained in the Token Test (E. DeRenzi & L. Vignolo, 1962, Brain, 85, 665–687) was administered to 17 epileptic patients undergoing bilateral amytal injections.     

The intelligent infant: Theoretical implications

In the present essay, the fact that preferences for visual novelty during infancy are related to later performance on intelligence tests was interpreted to mean that intelligence is continuous from infancy. It was suggested that the bases of both continuity and the general factor in intelligence reside in the same small set of basic cognitive processes. It was also noted that intelligent behavior on the part of the infant raises a question about the relative importance of automatic and effortful processes in intelligence. The development of a valid test of infant intelligence was seen as an aid to clarifying the role of hereditary and environmental influences on intelligence and in furthering our understanding of mental retardation. In brief, the manner in which infants distribute their attention to novel and previously exposed stimuli reveals the origins of cognition. The origins of cognition are the origins of intelligence.     

Message therapy: Language approach to stuttering therapy with children

Message therapy is a clinical procedure designed to be used as a carry-over technique with school-age stutterers or as a sole technique with the preschooler. The focus of therapy is on a unit of communication rather than on the moment or place of stuttering. One of the basic assumptions of the procedure is that the child is beginning to monitor how he/she is speaking rather than what is being communicated (i.e., the “message”)—each task requiring a different cognitive process. The emphasis of the therapy is to redirect the child's attention to “what he/she is saying.” The clinical procedures are discussed as they relate to the specific population.     

A unifying model for the structure of intellectual abilities

Models of the structure of cognitive abilities suggested by Spearman, Thurstone, Guilford, Vernon and Cattell-Horn are reviewed. It is noted that some of the models include a general intellectual factor (g) while others do not. It is also noted that some models are nonhierarchical, while in others more narrow abilities are subsumed under broader abilities in a hierarchical pattern. An empirical study in which a test battery of 16 tests was administered to some 1000 subjects in the 6th grade is reported. Using the LISREL technique to test different models, good support is obtained for oblique primary factors in the Thurstone tradition as well as for the second-order factors fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, and general visualization hypothesized by Cattell and Horn. It is also found, however, that the second-order factor of fluid intelligence i is identical with a third-order g-factor. On the basis of these results a three-level model (the HILI-model) is suggested, with the g-factor at the top, two broad factors reflecting the ability to deal with verbal and figural information, respectively, at the second-order level, and the primary factors in the Thurstone and Guilford tradition at the lowest level. It is argued that most previously suggested models are special cases of the HILI-model.