Ashum Gupta

Exploring word recognition in a semi-alphabetic script: The case of Devanagari.

Unlike other writing systems that are readily classifiable as alphabetic or syllabic in their structure, the Indic Devanagari script (of which Hindi is an example) has properties of both syllabic and alphabetic writing systems. Whereas Devanagari consonants are written in a linear left-to-right order, vowel signs are positioned nonlinearly above, below, or to either side of the consonants. This fact results in certain words in Hindi for which, in a given syllable, the vowel precedes the consonant in writing but follows it in speech. The current research exploited this property of the script to examine when the disparity between spatial and temporal sequencing would incur a processing cost and the implications of the findings from naming speed, accuracy, and writing order for the level at which words in Devanagari are segmented. The results support a partly phonemic and partly syllabic level of segmentation, consistent with the structural hybridity of the script.

Cognitive retraining in epilepsy.

Epilepsy is the commonest neurological disorder, so there is a need to establish more effective remedial programmes for the deficits in cognitive functioning associated with epilepsy. The present paper studies the relative change in the targeted skill areas as a consequence of cognitive retraining. For this purpose, a pre- and post-multiple baseline design was adopted with the intention of treating specific deficient skill. The measures of neuropsychological functioning adopted were a composite of tests/tasks, with specific emphasis on attention, memory and emotional status. The subject was targeted to a special neuro-rehabilitation programme comprised of cognitive retraining, supportive therapy and a deep breathing relaxation exercise. A regular home intervention programme was conducted simultaneously. Cognitive retraining included both paper and pencil tasks and real life activities. The training programme covered a 6-week period and each weekly session lasted ~1 hour. The results showed an overall improvement in cognitive performance across sessions, and the regular home intervention sessions were found to have enhanced the subjects performance. In conclusion, it was noted that by identifying cognitive deficits, effective training programmes can be devised that will be of substantial benefit to patients with epilepsy

Psychological functioning in patients with Parkinson's disease

Forty patients with Parkinsons disease (PD) were studied to explore the relationship between aspects of psychological functioning (depression, problems in motoric, cognitive and psychological areas) and physical illness (stage and duration of illness, functional disability, global cognitive status). Depression, motoric, psychological and cognitive problems were found to be significantly greater in patients suffering from severe as compared to moderate disease. Functional disability correlated more strongly with variables assessing psychological functioning. It was concluded that problems of patients with PD were not restricted to the motoric domain but are multi-dimensional in nature, and other factors should be taken into account in the clinical management of the illness. These findings have implications for development of interventions for patients with PD.

Cross-National Gender Differences in Mathematics Achievement, Attitude, and Self-Efficacy within a Common Intrinsic Structure

Because of a marked increase in the Canadian immigrant and refugee population in recent years, school psychologists today are frequently called upon to make recommendations concerning the learning needs of students from many diverse backgrounds and cultures. The purpose of this study was to examine possible gender as well as cultural differences in mathematics attitude, achievement, and self-efficacy between Canadian high school students and English-speaking high school students from a northern city in India. Although the participants, tested in their home countries, were administered the same battery of measures, the findings revealed, among other things, significant multivariate and corresponding univariate country, gender, and country x gender interaction effects. The importance of these findings for the practice of school psychology is discussed.

Reading Strategies of Bilingual Normally Progressing and Dyslexic Readers in Hindi and English.

This study examined the reading accuracy of dyslexic readers in comparison to chronological age-matched normally progressing readers in Hindi and English using word reading tasks, matched for spoken frequency of usage, age of acquisition, imageability, and word length. Both groups showed significantly greater reading accuracy in Hindi than in English. For normally progressing readers, spoken frequency of usage had no significant effect in Hindi and a significant effect in English, whereas for dyslexic readers it had a significant effect in both languages. In Hindi, normally progressing readers produced only nonword errors; dyslexic readers produced a far greater percentage of nonword than word errors. In English, normally progressing readers produced greater percentage of word than nonword errors, whereas dyslexic readers produced greater percentage of nonword than word errors. Results are discussed in terms of orthographic transparency, sublexical, and lexical reading strategies.

Differential hemisphere processing of information in schizophrenia

Ten paranoid and 10 nonparanoid schizophrenics, 10 nonschizophrenic psychiatric controls, and 10 normal controls were presented with two types of dot enumeration task, structured and unstructured dot arrays, tachistoscopically. The tasks were designed to elicit left and right hemisphere functioning through automatic and controlled information-processing strategies. The findings indicated that the two tasks failed to separate information-processing strategies as intended. The display size effects were found to be significant in both tasks for all the groups. In the case of the structured task, paranoids and nonparanoids both performed significantly more accurately in the right as compared with the left hemisphere. Unlike the other three groups, the nonparanoid group was found to process the dots in both tasks using an automatic strategy but this was so only in the left hemisphere. In the right, they performed like other groups. The findings thus point to a left hemisphere deficit in the nonparanoids.

Indian adaptation of the Cognistat: Psychometric properties of a cognitive screening tool for patients of traumatic brain injury

Abstract The present study was aimed at adapting the cognitive screening tool ‘Cognistats2019; (Neurobehavioral Cognitive Status Exam) for use with the Indian community. As a part of the Indian adaptation of the test, the ‘screen and metric’ approach of assessment was eliminated. However, the screening item of the construction sub-test has been retained as a separate sub-test for evaluating immediate visual memory. Culturally irrelevant test items were identified under the, repetition, naming, memory, similarities and judgment sub-tests. Changes were made to these items on the basis of recommendation of 7 psychologists of Indian origin. The psychometric properties of the scale were evaluated in a sample of 30 patients with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and 55 demographically matched healthy controls. The internal consistency of the test was high (Cronbachs alpha = 0.94). The test was found to have acceptable inter- rater and test-retest reliability. The concurrent validity of the test was established by comparing the performance of patients on MMSE and sub-tests of the Indian adaptation of Cognistat The test was found to have high discriminative validity as there was a significant difference in the performance of patients and controls on all subtests (p

Depression in Parkinson's Disease

Abstract This study investigated the severity of depression in patients with Parkinsons Disease (PD) and explored relationships between depression and duration, stage, cognitive status and impairment in daily functioning. Also, depression in PD patients was studied with respect to age at onset of disease, stage and gender. Forty patients with Parkinsons disease (PD) who did not have dementia (MMSE cut-off > 23) were evaluated with the Geriatric Depression Scale. Subjects showed a high frequency of depression with 52.5 % severely depressed and 37.5% mild to moderately depressed. Severely depressed patients were significantly more impaired in their functioning of daily activities as compared to the mildly depressed group. Depression in these patients did not correlate significantly with duration of illness. However, stage of disease, global cognitive functioning and functional capacity were significantly related with depression. Patients with severe stage of PD had significantly higher means on depression than those having moderate disease. No gender differences were found for any of the study variables. These results have implications for development of interventions for persons with PD and their families.