Perceptual feature sorting of brain-injured patients: left versus right hemisphere preferences.

A 20-item Piagetian-type sorting task was presented to 12 medically verified unilaterally brain-injured patients, whose performances were compared to 12 non-brain-injured controls. Cerebrovascular involvement accounted for the brain injuries. Speech and language status was determined by use of the short form of the Minnesota Test for Differential Diagnosis of Aphasia (Schuell, 1965). Five subjects had right hemisphere involvement. Of the seven subjects with left hemisphere involvement, four were fluent, two were nonfluent, and one had no appreciable speech or language difficulties. The left hemisphere brain-injured subjects and the controls showed preferences for the features of shape and texture. In contrast, the right hemisphere brain-injured subjects preferred the feature of size.

Specific syndromes and associated communication disorders: a review.

The purpose of this review is to provide speech-language pathologists and special educators with an awareness of genetics and specific syndromes that involve a speech, language, or hearing component. Both genetic and environmental etiologies are discussed. A description is provided for some of the physical anomalies associated with selected syndromes that also include speech and language deficits. These are presented to provide a rationale for the speech-language pathologist as well as special educators to become more active team members in the identification of syndromes, promote early remedial intervention, and increase interaction with other disciplines in dealing with the multihandicapped child.

Use of situational cues by preschool children.

Pictures often are used in language intervention programs to elicit selected linguistic constructions or to teach concepts to children below the age of 5 years. However,, preschool children frequently are egocentric in their perceptions and in their language, and are unable to view a situation from a perspective other than their own. This study presented children who were in Piaget's preoperational period of development with pictures accompanied by a one-word descriptive phrase and asked the children to explain what was meant by the utterance. It was found that the younger child generally was more egocentric in his interpretations, and his responses reflected less attention to the situational cues present in the picture. The results are discussed in light of common clinical practices of using pictorial stimuli for children with language problems.

Use of mean morphological units to assess language development.

The intent of this study was to determine what size language sample was needed in order to obtain a reliable index of mean morphological units. Shriner (1967) suggested that 50 sentences were necessary for obtaining a mean length of response and a length complexity index. Brown (1973) recommended using 100 sentences when determining mean morphological units. However, other investigators (Schneiderman, 1955; Griffith and Miner, 1969) said that as few as 15 sentences could serve to provide enough data for reliable estimates of mean length of response and a length complexity index. For a practitioner, knowing that the first 15 sentences produced would be a reliable estimate of overall language ability would be of substantial benefit. Obtaining, transcribing, and analyzing 15 sentences takes about 20 min. The results of this study show that as few as 15 sentences are adequate for determining a reliable index of mean morphological units.

The use of auditory masking to estimate automatization of correct articulatory production.

In order to estimate automatization of correct articulatory production in 71 elementary school children about to be dismissed from training, auditory masking was used during administration of the Deep Test of Articulation. White noise was presented binaurally at 86 dB SPL. The children's articulation was tested under three conditions: Condition I without masking, Condition II with masking, and Condition III without masking three to four months after Condition II testing. Children's performances on Conditions I and II were compared with their performances during Condition III. Results demonstrated that performance on the Deep Test during auditory masking as a criterion for dismissal would have resulted in children being correctly dismissed from therapy more of the time (94%) than the traditional (nonmasked) administration of the test (77%). In addition, use of experimental administration of the test would have resulted in 6% of the children being incorrectly dismissed from therapy while traditional administration would have resulted in 23% of the children being incorrectly dismissed. Clinical importance and implications for further investigation are discussed.