Otfried Spreen

Predicting premorbid IQ: A revision of the national adult reading test

Abstract The National Adult Reading Test (NART) has promise as an assessment tool for the determination of premorbid intellectual function, but needs to be modified for current use in a North American population and validated against the WAIS-R. A revision based on American and Canadian pronunciation rules was prepared. Sixty-six unimpaired subjects were tested with a revised NART and all subtests of the WAIS-R. Demographic variables were also recorded. Correlations between actual VIQ, PIQ and FSIQ, and predicted IQs on the basis of revised NART score were .83, .40, and .75, respectively (all p < .001). Prediction of IQs was more accurate with equations based on revised NART score than with demographic variable prediction equations developed by Barona, Reynolds, and Chastain (1984).

The effect of interstimulus interval and intensity on ear asymmetry for nonverbal stimuli in dichotic listening

Abstract This study investigated the question of ear asymmetry for musical and pitch pattern stimuli with one second interstimulus intervals. The results were compared with those obtained in another study using five and twelve second interstimulus intervals. In addition, the effect of intensity on ear asymmetry was examined. The results confirmed previous findings of a left ear superiority for musical stimuli. The size of the difference between ears for music and tonal pattern decreases with increasing length of the interstimulus interval. Overall performance level showed a monotonic decrease with increasing length of the interstimulus interval. No significant effect of intensity level (50 and 70 db) was obtained. The results were discussed in relation to a temporary storage model and a perceptual model.

A Short Form of the Token Test

Summary The Token Test was given to 67 aphasic Ss and 36 brain-damaged non-aphasic Ss. Two methods of scoring the test were employed, a weighted score in which items presumed to be more difficult were differentially weighted, and a pass-fail score with all items receiving equal weight. Both scoring methods showed high reliability and power to discriminate between subject samples. By eliminating redundant items from the original test a shortened 16-item version with adequate discriminating power and reliability was constructed. It is suggested that the short version of the Token Test is approximately as useful as the original version and that a differential weight scoring system does not add significantly to the discriminating power and reliability of the test.

The Relationship Between Learning Disabilities and Persisting Delinquency

Recidivism of delinquency in juveniles with learning disabilities (LD), the focus of the present study, has been virtually unexplored in previous research. Data from a longitudinal study initiated in 1978 are examined. Sixty-five subjects with LD (47 males and 18 females) who had been diagnosed and assessed between the ages of 8 and 12 years were located and, during a personal structured interview at the median age of 18 years, reported police contact. This population was subdivided into two groups on the basis of whether police contact had continued or discontinued, as reported in a second personal interview at the age of 25 years. Discriminant analysis on parent and subject variables correctly classified 75% of the subjects and revealed that certain personality characteristics, such as impulsivity and poor judgment, discriminate between persisting and nonpersisting delinquency in youth with learning disabilities.

Empirically Derived Learning Disability Subtypes: A Replication Attempt and Longitudinal Patterns Over 15 Years

Test scores of two groups of learning disabled children with a mean age of 10 years (N=63 and N=96) were submitted to cluster analysis in an attempt to replicate previously described subtypes. Part of these subjects and a matched control group (N = 170) followed up into adulthood and tested at a mean age of 24 years were cluster analyzed to investigate the persistence of subtypes into adulthood. The clusters found in both childhood and adult samples did resemble subtypes reported in the literature, although at adult age the ‘linguistic’ subtype was no longer present. The results of several validation procedures indicated that the derived subtypes were somewhat less stable than desired. Tests for age differences across clusters shawed significant effects only with unstandardized variables in the adult sample but not in children. Tests for differences between derived clusters in neurological impairment as assessed in childhood proved significant only between control and LD clusters; a similar analysis with adult neurological categories showed signifcant trends related to severity. Tracing individual subjects from childhood to adult clusters showed only a moderate degree of persistence. A subsidiary analysis with two of the samples investigated the presence and outcome of the ACID subtype. One clear example of this type was found at both ages, but tracing subjects showed only little persistence of this type into adult years. A second example of the ACID type was also found at adult age which consisted mainly of subjects who were average learners in school. The paper stresses the need for reexamination of the notion of “specific” disabilities and further study of the replicability and long-term outcome of LD subtypes

The relationship between learning disability, emotional disorders, and neuropsychology; some results and observations

Emotional disorders may precede learning disabilities, follow learning disabilities, or occur at the same time. This paper discusses evidence supporting each of these hypotheses, focussing on the possibility that both learning disabilities and emotional disorders, or at least some subforms of them, may have a common origin in neurological dysfunction. A model of interaction of the many factors involved in both the development and the persistence across age for both learning disabilities and emotional disorders is presented and avenues of research are discussed. Data from a 15-year follow-up study which illustrate some of these complex relationships are presented.

Implications of test revisions for research.

Test revisions are increasingly common in psychology and neuropsychology in particular. However, such revisions may alter in complex ways the kind of information obtained, and they may assess traits, abilities, and conditions in ways different from earlier versions. This article outlines some of the problems associated with the revision of tests facing clinicians and researchers. Three broad classes of revision are considered. Part 1 considers the aging of tests, part 2 concerns the aging of participants, and part 3 considers changes in test format. Although the article focuses largely on measures of intelligence and personality, the issues addressed in the article apply to other tests and assessment domains as well.

Some Measures of Lexical Diversity in Aphasic and Normal Language Performance

Thirty-eight measures of lexical diversity are obtained (with the aid of a computer) from the free speech of 20 aphasic and 20 normal control subjects. After statistical analyses of significance and redundancy, 18 variables are retained for a later empirical derivation of types of aphasia. Eight of the variables are sufficiently significant to discriminate the aphasic group from the normal group.

Nonverbal learning disabilities: A critical review

This article presents a critical review of the term and concept of nonverbal learning disability (NLD). After a brief historical introduction, the article focuses on the apparent rarity of NLD; the hypothesis of the frequent co-occurrence of emotional disorder, depression, and suicide in NLD; the white matter hypothesis as an explanation of the origin of NLD; and the question of NLD as part of a variety of other disorders. It is argued that NLD presents a broad hypothesis, but that there is little evidence to support its use in clinical practice.

Fifteen-year stability of some neuropsychological tests in learning disabled subjects with and without neurological impairment

The stability of the WISC/WAIS-R and seven other commonly used neuropsychological tests over a period of 15 years was investigated in 133 learning-disabled subjects, and for subgroups with hard neurological signs, soft neurological signs, and without neurological findings. Results showed high and significant correlation coefficients between time 1 (mean age 10 years) and time 2 (mean age 25 years), even though for some tests a change from the childrens to the adult version occurred. Using a repeated-measures multivariate design, the three subgroups did not differ on this limited test battery. The correlation coefficients for the three subgroups provide an estimate of the range of stability in three different samples.