Gurmal Rattan

A Study of Psychological Referrals for Learning-Disabled Children:

This investigation examined the grade levels and gender of 1,332 learning-disabled students referred over a 17-year period. A significant difference was shown in referral trends both before and after passage of Public Law 94-142 and Indiana Rule S-1. The data indicated that 80% of the total referrals occurred at the elementary school level and 45.5% of the referrals occurred between grades 3 and 4. Gender differences were also apparent; males were referred far more frequently than females across all grades. The ratio was about 3.5:1, with 1,040 males to 292 females referred. The psychological and educational services implications of these grade clusters were discussed.

The efficacy of a neuropsychological symptom inventory in the differential diagnosis of neurological, depressed, and normal patients.

This study examined the efficacy of using a symptom inventory to discriminate between neurological, depressed, and normal patients. Symptoms such as hallucinations, numbness of extremities, balance problems, and a localized place on head sensitive to touch were identified as the best predictors of the neurologically impaired patients when compared to the depressed and normal groups. Similarly, sleep problems was the best predictor of the depressed group. Using a step-wise discriminant analysis, a total of 91% of the patients were correctly diagnosed on the basis of reported symptoms. These results were discussed in terms of the overlap in symptomology between the neurological and psychiatric groups and the relative efficiency of using a self-report measure in making differential diagnoses.

The Neuropsychology of Children’s Learning Disorders

Early theories of children’s learning disabilities were modeled largely upon acquired language and speech disorders in adults. These explanations ranged from “functional retrogression” or a return to an earlier stage of development (Jackson, 1874), to the hypotheses that letter reversals were associated with confused dominance of cortical hemispheres (Orton, 1937). For the most part, these early notions of children’s learning disorders were attributed to anomalies of the central nervous system (Critchley, 1964; Orton, 1937).

Response time as a dependent measure on the category test of the Halstead-Reitan neuropsychological test battery

The role of response time on the Category Test of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery (HRNB) was examined. Seventy-two normal adult volunteers were administered the complete HRNB. Average response times for individual slides were computed for correct (CRT), incorrect (IRT), and total (TRT) scores on the Category Test. The utility of these response-time scores was examined in the context of other HRNB variables seen to be factorially related to the Category Test. Results from a stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that approximately 15% of the variability in Category error scores was explained by a measure of spatial memory (TPT-location), and an additional 15% was accounted for by response time (TRT and IRT). A factor analysis indicated that the three measures of response time loaded on a factor that accounted for 21% of the explained variability in HRNB performance.

The Role of Canadian School Psychologists: Perceptions of a Sample from the General Public.

Abstract A sample of 77 subjects responded to a questionnaire designed to collect information about their perceptions of the role of school psychologists. The results indicate that overall the respondents had a fairly accurate sense of what a school psychologist does, although they overestimated the importance of psychotherapy as one of the school psychologists functions. It is recommended that school psychologists more clearly specify their function when dealing with members of the general public.

EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING SKILLS IN MALE STUDENTS WITH SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL DISORDERS

This study examined the efficacy of discrete versus global measures of executive functioning in children with different levels of emotional conditions. Fifty-seven male students were administered the Wisconsin Card Sort Test, the Category Test, and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning (BRIEF). Only the BRIEF variables of Emotional Control and Shifting Attention were statistically significant variables for students with severe emotional conditions. The relationships between attentional control, emotional regulation, and higher-level problem-solving skills were discussed in the context of discrete versus global measures of executive functioning in children with emotional conditions.

Assessing the Commonality of the WISC-R and the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery with Learning-Disordered Children

The present investigation examined the neuropsychological constructs that underlie the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R). Data from administrations of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery (HRNB) and WISC-R were gathered for 1,079 learning-disabled children. A multiple regression analysis was employed to examine the contribution of each HRNB measure in the prediction of individual WISC-R subtests. Overall, verbal auditory discrimination presented as the most salient underlying construct of the WISC-R Verbal subtests, followed by concept formation and nonverbal auditory discrimination. Neuropsychological measures of the HRNB that involved perceptual organization were found to play a key role in defining the underlying constructs of the WISC-R Performance subtests. Similar to the above procedure, a second analysis was performed to assess the neuropsychological underpinnings of Kaufmans three factors (Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Organization, and Freedom from Distractibility). Of the three factors, the HRNB measures explained similar amounts in the Freedom from Distractability (21%) and the Perceptual Organization (20.9%) factors in contrast to the Verbal Comprehension (7.3 %0) factor. Overall, these results indicate an interrelationship among several basic neuropsychological processes and higher-level cognitive functioning as represented on the WISC-R.

Speed of information processing: A third factor of the WISC-R

Abstract The role of response time on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) was investigated. The complete WISC-R was administered to 131 children. A total response time (TRT) score for correct and incorrect performance was gleaned from each of the Picture Arrangement (PATRT), Block Design (BDTRT), and Object Assembly (OATRT) subtests. The utility of these response time measures was examined in relation to other WISC-R subtests. A principal factors analysis of the above data revealed that the three response time measures loaded on factors that were independent of the WISC-R subtests. However, a subsequent principal components factor analysis using orthogonal rotations produced three factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.0. Factors 1 and 2 accounted for 41.9% and 15.1% of the variability and were explained, respectively, by loadings from the Verbal and Performance scale subtests. Interestingly, only the three response time measures significantly loaded on the third factor, which accounted for 7.9% of the variability. The relationship between intelligence and the speed of information processing, as presented by the response measures, is discussed.

Children as Informants of Neuropsychological Symptomology: The Child Neuropsychological Symptom Inventory

Despite the rapid growth in child neuropsychology, there remains a paucity of measures which examine neuropsychological symptomology in children. In keeping with the need to understand the history and dimensions of childrens presenting problems, the present investigation assessed the utility of a self-report neuropsychological symptom inventory with children. Study I examined the internal consistency of the Child Neuropsychological Symptom Inventory (CNSI) while Study II examined the stability of childrens responses over a two week delay. Results indicate that the CNSI is a relatively stable instrument for assessing childrens self-report of neuropsychological symptomology. The data were interpreted as lending support for having children act as self-informants.

Inducing Comprehension in the Bilateral Poor Reader

The comprehension effects of changes in the spatial configuration of prose were examined with reading disabled children who differed in laterality preference. Specifically, 24 learning disabled boys were presented with prose materials in a standard, phrased, and backward (right to left) fashion. Measures of comprehension showed that text in the phrased and backward conditions differentially facilitated comprehension for the more bilateral subjects but had little effect on more right lateralized subjects. The results were discussed in terms of the instructional implications of alterations in the visual-spatial arrangement of prose materials for bilateral readers.