Cerebral lateralization of visual stimulus recognition in stutterers and fluent speakers

Cerebral lateralization of stutterers and nonstutterers was assessed in terms of choice reaction times to stimuli presented to either the left or right visual hemifield on letter recognition and figure recognition tasks. Reaction times on both tasks were determined before and after a behavioral speech therapy program. Stutterers demonstrated a significant reduction in mean reaction times in the letter recognition task over the course of the therapy program. This change differed significantly from that obtained from stutterers in the figure recognition task. The stutterers' responses were in contrast to the responses of the nonstutterers, who showed no reduction in mean reaction times for the letter or figure recognition tasks. The results were discussed in terms of alterations in aspects of central nervous system processing as a result of participation in the behavioral speech therapy.     

Correlation between EEG and auditory perceptual measures in auditory agnosia

We describe a child who acquired a gradual sustained speech deficit for which no specific etiology was found, and who had an associated epileptogenic abnormality on EEG. Assessment of auditory perceptual skills and receptive language confirmed that gradual parallel improvement occurred with the EEG after therapeutic anticonvulsant blood levels were obtained. Prospective trials of anticonvulsant drugs in conjunction with serial measures of central auditory abilities are necessary to establish their value in the management of the linguistic deficit in children with auditory agnosia.     

Gerstmann syndrome without aphasia: a longitudinal study

A case of "pure" and complete Gerstmann syndrome resulting from a focal vascular lesion in the posterior parietal area of the left hemisphere and not associated with aphasic disorder or general mental impairment is described. The initial symptom presentation of this patient supported the concept of the autonomous nature of the Gerstmann aggregate but longitudinal findings suggested that these symptoms did not in fact represent a coherent syndrome.     

The effect of reinforcement for global or analytic strategies on the performance of reflective and impulsive children

Second and sixth grade impulsive and reflective children were administered a conceptual style task with a modification that children were reinforced specifically for either global or analytic processing. Results indicated that both reflectives and impulsives were capable of offering either a global or analytic hypothesis under appropriate reinforcement. Results were interpreted as indicating the relevance of motivational factors to reflection/impulsivity and cognitive style.     

Factor comparison of two Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory short forms

A sample of 315 valid Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) protocols were selected from inpatient files and scored for both the MMPI-168 and Faschingbauer Abbreviated MMPI short forms. Each short form was then factor-analyzed by a principal axis strategy with varimax rotation. The six factors extracted from each short form were then compared as to their similarity by use of the s index. This procedure showed five of the six factors in each short form as having a significant relationship of the pattern of salient variables they had in common with the complimentary factors of the other form. These data suggest that both short forms, though based on different construction methodologies, share the same underlying personality attributes. Future research is suggested to replicate these results and extend them to the full MMPI.     

Cerebral lateralization in bilinguals: Methodological issues

The literature on lateralization for language in bilinguals manifests two apparent contradictions. Some papers demonstrate differences in lateralization between bilinguals and monolinguals; others demonstrate none. In studies with exclusively bilingual subjects, some papers demonstrate differences between the lateralization for the two languages, while others demonstrate none. This paper discusses the range of methodological parameters which must be borne in mind when conducting or evaluating studies of lateralization for language in bilinguals. These include issues of subject selection, language and stimulus selection, testing procedures, data analysis, and interpretation of results.     

A perceptual comparison: Stuttering and nonstuttering children''s nonstuttered speech

Recently, perceptual evaluation of the nonstuttered speech of stutterers has received renewed research interest. To summarize, the majority of research on this subject reported the nonstuttered speech of adult stutterers was perceptually identifiable from that produced by normal speaking individuals. A continuation of this line of research would be to determine if the nonstuttered speech of children would be equally recognizable. The results of this investigation would indicate this is not the case. The implications of the sophisticated judge's inability to identify stuttering children based on nonstuttered speech are discussed.     

Developmental differences in reactions to children labeled mentally retarded

In an attempt to examine age-related differences in response to the mental retardation label, 48 4th and 5th graders and 48 11th and 12th graders were told of a child of their own age and sex who was either labeled mentally retarded or unlabeled and who performed either competently or incompetently in giving a report. Incompetent target children were viewed more negatively than competent ones at both grade levels. The mental retardation label had less generalized impacts, leading girls but not boys (a) to cite lack of ability as the reason for a retarded child's failure, and (b) to hold low expectations that retarded targets would hold jobs, marry, or have children. A developmental shift in responses to the label was evident only on a trait perception measure; younger children stigmatized retarded targets, while older children granted special dispensation of a failing retarded child by viewing him or her more positively than a similarly incompetent but unlabeled child. Since only adolescent boys showed special dispensation, even though girls were more generally attentive to the label, both sex and age differences warrant further examination.     

Functional cerebral lateralization in subtypes of disabled readers

This study investigated the functional cortical organization of reading-disabled boys and age-matched normal readers. Subjects were initially classified according to E. Boder's (1971a. In B. Bateman (Ed.), Learning disorders. Seattle: Special Child Publications. Vol. 4.) distinction between dysphonetic children (who make nonphonetic, bizarre spelling errors), dyseidetic children (who make phonetically acceptable errors, but do not respond to some words as “wholes”), and children who display normal error patterns (who make phonetically acceptable errors and respond to words as “wholes”). It was hypothesized that different types of reading disability would be associated with different patterns of lateralized brain function. This proposal was examined by testing subjects on three experimental neuropsychological measures—hemispheric time-sharing, conjugate lateral eye movements, and tactile directional perception. Conjugate lateral eye movements were disregarded as the control subjects failed to show predicted asymmetries on this measure. The two other measures were considered valid and demonstrated atypical lateralization in the reading-disabled groups. Lateralization of verbal and/or spatial functiosn differed among the reading-disabled groups and an attempt was made to relate these atypical patterns to the type of reading difficulties presented.