The effect of voice and place among aphasic, nonaphasic right-damaged, and normal subjects on a metalinguistic task

Aphasic, nonaphasic right-damaged, and normal subjects sorted triads of stop consonants into pairs adjudged most similar. All groups sorted on the basis of linguistic features, but differed in their use of place versus voice: Normal and right-damaged subjects used place and voice equally often; aphasics relied significantly more upon voice than upon place. These results are interpreted to reflect an alteration at the level of linguistic representation in aphasics and not simply a perceptual difficulty. It is suggested that this altered representation stems from aphasics' extended use of normal linguistic capacities of the right hemisphere.     

Neologistic jargon aphasia: A case report

This study examined aspects of speech produced by an aphasic subject with neologistic jargon. Grammatical category, syllabic structure, and phonemic characteristics of neologisms, paraphasias, and correct productions were analyzed and compared. Results tended to confirm an anomic component in this type of aphasia and to support a role for the postactivation of phonemic units from prior utterances in the phonemic composition of some neologistic productions. In opposition to prior claims, however, the results also showed a striking similarity between neologisms and paraphasias, suggesting that similar mechanisms may be involved in both types of aphasic error.     

Stroop interference: Hemispheric difference in Chinese speakers

Some recent studies have demonstrated that the processing of color is favored by the nondominant hemisphere in English-speaking subjects. Single Chinese logographs in Japanese- as well as Chinese-speaking subjects are similarly favored. In the present study, it was hypothesized that more Stroop interference would occur in the nondominant hemisphere because the two processes involved in the Stroop effect (i.e., reading logographs and naming colors) are possibly localized in that hemisphere in Chinese-speaking subjects. Eighteen right-handed Chinese-English bilinguals were used as subjects. There were three conditions in each visual field: Interference, reading, and naming. Each slide was presented for 150 msec preceded by a fixation dot. Subjects were asked to verbally report as fast and as accurately as possible either the color words or the color names, depending upon the condition. Reaction times and error rates were analyzed. As expected, more Stroop interference was obtained when color words were presented in the left visual field. This result is in direct contrast with that of Y-C. Tsao, T. Feustel, and C. Soseos 1979, Brain and Language, 8, 367–371. In that study, more Stroop interference was obtained when the materials were presented in the right visual field in English-speaking subjects.     

Correlates of syntactic development in kindergartners: Deficiency vs. proficiency

In a search for correlates of oral language deficiency, a sentence imitation task (SOLST) was used to select 20 syntactically deficient and 20 syntactically proficient kindergarten subjects. The groups were compared on a battery of tasks measuring oral language comprehension and production, verbal and nonverbal intelligence, visual-motor skill, manual dexterity, right-ear advantage, reading readiness, and later reading achievement. On 8 of the 11 variables, the delayed group performed significantly less well than the controls, although Pearson correlation coefficients of other measures with measures of syntax were generally low to moderate. Negative correlations of some variables with right-ear advantage raise the possibility of reverse dominance in some of the experimental subjects. In addition, there was confirmation for poor performance on the Stephens Oral Language Screening Test resulting in subsequent reading difficulties.     

An investigation of serial learning and retention processes in children

Three studies investigated both serial learning (SL) and retention processes among first through sixth graders. SL processes were evaluated for both pictorial and verbal materials by use of a probing methodology, and retention processes were studied as a function of the amount of intratask interference during original learning. All three SL stimuli considered (prior item, serial position, and prior-item cluster) were found to be functional, although the prior-item stimulus was most frequently used. Additionally, SL rate was found to improve with increasing age. The introduction of interference into SL through acoustic, associative, or semantic similarity facilitated retention in control as well as proactive and retroactive inhibition conditions. Pictorial serial list items improved SL performance only for second, third, and fourth graders, while fifth graders performed better with verbal materials and sixth-grade performance was comparable in both presentation modes.     

The acquisition of behavioral chains

The present investigation was designed to study some conditions which facilitate the acquisition of behavioral chains by young children. Three experiments were performed. In Expt I subjects were required to respond overtly to the internal components of the chain. In Expt II an aversive contingency was imposed following errors. In Expt III instructions were added at the beginning of training. The results supported the following conclusions: (a) Requiring subjects to mark and name the correct stimuli on each trial increased the accuracy of performance; (b) introducing time-out contingent on incorrect responses depressed the error rate; and (c) adding instructions concerning a pending change in the experimental task resulted in a lower error rate following withdrawal of the instructional stimuli.     

Infants' discrimination of photographs of faces following redundant presentations

Infants' discrimination of photographs of faces, as indicated by fixation toward novel targets, was the criterion used to evaluate familiarization conditions designed to facilitate the exercise of selective attention. Groups of 19- and 23-week-old infants were shown either pictures of different faces of the same sex, differing poses of the same face, or repeated exposures of the face that served as a test stimulus. The older infants demonstrated differential attention to novel over familiar stimuli during subsequent recognition tests, and an examination of their responsiveness during familiarization presentations indicated differing trends of looking activity.     

The reaction to frustration of middle- and lower-class children

Preschool age, white children from lower and middle socioeconomic backgrounds were exposed separately to the same operant analog of the Amsel “double alley” procedure. Two measures of responding, latency of press and pressing rate, were taken following frustration and reward of prior responding. The middle-class children responded slower, in both measures, on nonrewarded compared to rewarded trials, a reversal of the more frequently observed frustration effect (FE). The lower-class children, by contrast, showed the usual FE, shorter response latencies following frustrative nonreward. The FE was not observed with the rate measure. The obtained socioeconomic class difference in reaction to frustration was discussed in terms of the possible relationship to class differences in perceived locus of control of reinforcement. An alternative explanation relating the results to the maximizing vs response patterning behavior in three-choice probability learning tasks was also discussed.     

Differential reinforcement of low rates performance by impulsive and reflective children

Third-grade boys classified as either cognitively impulsive or reflective were reinforced for key pressing according to a DRL (differential reinforcement of low rates) 6-sec schedule of reinforcement. Half of each group received instructions about the behavioral requirements for obtaining reinforcements. Prior to DRL training, impulsive Ss showed a low probability of key press responding at long interresponse time (IRT) intervals while reflective Ss exhibited an equal probability of terminating either short or long IRTs. During training and in the absence of instructions, impulsives exhibited a less precise temporal discrimination, characterized by a greater predominance of response bursts (0–2 sec IRTs) following reinforcements, than reflective Ss. While impulsive and reflective Ss displayed similar frequencies of collateral behavior between successively reinforced responses, impulsives engaged in the reinforced response more frequently and tended (p < .08) to obtain fewer reinforcements. Instructions served to enhance the DRL performance.     

Bilateral language: Is the left hemisphere still dominant?

A 13-year-old left-handed boy with a left fronto-parietal vascular malformation evidenced bilateral symmetrical language representation at intracarotid amytal testing. Surgical resection of the parietal motor and frontal premotor area (sparing classical perisylvian language regions) for seizure control resulted in an acute aphasia. Language deficits were still apparent 3 months and to a lesser degree 1 year after surgery. This suggests that when language is bilateral and symmetrical, the left hemisphere may still be dominant or both hemispheres may be necessary to sustain full language competence. Explanations for atypical language localization within the left hemisphere are also discussed.