Peggy T. Ackerman

Auditory event-related potentials in attention and reading disabled boys

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 4 groups of children: (1) reading disabled, (2) attentional deficit disorder with hyperactivity, (3) attentional deficit disorder without hyperactivity, and (4) normal controls. Subjects were instructed to press a button to a low probability tone (target, P = 0.168) and to ignore all other events which included a high probability tone (non-target, P = 0.664) and an unexpected novel sound (P = 0.168). The amplitude of several late ERP components and the latency of the P3b component were examined. As in a previously reported visual study with the same sample of children, the overall amplitude of the P3b component was significantly smaller in all the clinical groups than in controls. Two other late components (slow wave and Pc) were also smaller in the clinical groups than in controls. P3 latency did not, however, differentiate the groups.

Counting Rate, Naming Rate, Phonological Sensitivity, and Memory Span: Major Factors in Dyslexia

Children with severe dyslexia were slower in counting from memory and naming alternating digits and letters than those with milder reading impairment. The children most disabled also had poorer phonological sensitivity, shorter digit spans, and lower Verbal IQs, but these variables accounted for no additional variance in prediction of scores on the Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised (R = 0.89).

Event-related brain potentials elicited during phonological processing differentiate subgroups of reading disabled adolescents.

Visual and auditory rhyme judgment tasks were administered to adolescent dyslexics and normal readers while event-related brain potentials were recorded. Reading disabled subjects were split into two groups based on a median split of scores on a visual non-word decoding test. The better decoders were called Phonetics and the poorer decoders were referred to as Dysphonetics. Single syllable, real word stimuli were used, and both rhyming and non-rhyming targets had a 50% chance for matching orthography. In the visual paradigm the normal readers exhibited a left frontal CNV before targets, a large reduction in frontal N400 for matching orthography (orthographic priming), and a large reduction in parietal N400 for rhyming targets (phonological priming). Dysphonetics had an intact CNV and orthographic priming, but the groups phonological priming was very reduced. Phonetics showed both orthographic and phonological priming but had a marked reduction in their CNV. In the auditory task, controls showed a left parietal N400 priming effect for rhyming targets. Dysphonetics showed a similar bilateral effect. The Phonetics did not show a normal priming effect, but produced evidence for priming at a longer latency. Additionally, the Phonetic group responded more slowly than either of the other two groups, who responded with similar latencies. These results support the separation of the reading disabled into a group that has difficulty translating orthography into phonology, and a group that is slower functioning and has reduced capacity in preparing for a response.

Effortful processing deficits in children with reading and/or attention disorders.

Three groups of educationally troublesome boys were contrasted with adequate students on several tasks tapping effortful processing. The nonhyperactive reading disabled (RD) group differed both from controls and two attention deficit disorder (ADD) groups, one with and one without hyperactivity (H), on aspects of a memory task involving acoustic and semantic associations. All three clinical groups differed from controls in memory for low-imagery as opposed to high-imagery words and in computational efficiency. A stepwise regression analysis to predict reading grade level showed age and WISC-R IQ to account for 38% of the variance with an additional 28% explained by the effortful task variables (multiple R = .83). It is theorized here that attentional disorder impedes automatization of number facts; and, inasmuch as RD children receive adverse attention ratings, even if not considered hyperactive, they, as well as ADD and H/ADD boys, exhibit this deficiency.

The frequency and significance of additional self-reported psychiatric diagnoses in children with attention deficit disorder

The frequency of additional self-reported diagnoses in a large, heterogeneous sample of attention defiict disorder (ADD) children (N=182)was determined using the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents (DICA). Over half the children had additional DICA diagnoses, with oppositional disorder and anxiety/mood disorders the most frequent. ADD boys with internalizing-type diagnoses had lower verbal IQs and arithmetic scores and performed more poorly on attention tasks than those without; parents also rated them more adversely. Those with externalizing- type diagnoses were rated as more aggressive by teachers and had sociopathic, thrill- seeking profiles on paper-pencil self-ratings. Over 40% of the children were dyslexic or slow learners but they had no higher rate of DICA diagnoses than those who read adequately.

Add Students With and Without Dyslexia Differ in Sensitivity to Rhyme and Alliteration

Children with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and dyslexia (n = 82) made significantly more errors than normally reading children with ADD (n = 83) on a simple auditory test of phonological sensitivity to rhyme and alliteration (Bradley, 1984). A subgroup of children with dyslexia who were sensitive to rhyme and alliteration had higher scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) Spatial factor than a dyslexic subgroup who were phonologically insensitive. In multiple regression analyses, age-corrected phonological sensitivity scores contributed significantly to the prediction of both reading and spelling Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) scores, this beyond the contribution of WISC-R variables. Of interest for dyslexia subtyping theories, Spatial factor scores had a subtractive effect in these regression analyses.

A psychosocial study of hyperactive and learning-disabled boys

Adequately reading hyperactive boys, normally behaved learning-disabled (LD) boys, and normal controls were contrasted on tests measuring personality traits, cognitive role taking, and moral reasoning. Additionally, parents and teachers rated all children on a number of behaviors, and parents were interviewed in a process-oriented fashion to assess home stimulation potential. Hyperactive boys were rated more aggressive and anxious than LD boys and controls and had not been encouraged as much by parents to achieve. Hyperactives had been born to younger parents, on the average, and 25% lived with their mothers and stepfathers. None of the LD or control boys had stepfathers. The groups did not differ significantly in moral reasoning ability, cognitive role taking, or locus of control; on the Junior Personality Inventory hyperactives tended to have elevated scores on the neuroticism scale while LD boys had higher scores on the lie scale.

Internalizing and externalizing characteristics of sexually and/or physically abused children

This study evaluates the behavioral consequences of childhood abuse (sexual, physical, or both), with particular focus on prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Three abuse type groups and nonabused controls were contrasted on behavioral rating scales and on structured psychiatric interview data. The participants (109 abused children and 16 normal control children) were recruited from Arkansas Children’s Hospital and local agencies for abused children. As expected, proportionately more females than males were sexually abused. Overall, males were rated as more disturbed than females. Type of abuse did not consistently influence behavioral ratings. Externalizing scores were significantly higher than internalizing scores in all abused groups. PTSD was diagnosed in 50% of the abused children, with a higher rate for boys who had been sexually abused as opposed to physically abused only (58% versus 13%). The most frequent comorbid condition with PTSD was Separation Anxiety. Sexually abused boys were hospitalized for psychiatric treatment at a higher rate than were other abused children.

EEG Power Spectra of Children with Dyslexia, Slow Learners, and Normally Reading Children with ADD During Verbal Processing

EEG power spectra were studied in two poor reader groups (with dyslexia and slow learning) and a normally reading clinic control group (with attention deficit disorder) as the children viewed strings of words and letters (seven categories). The children ranged in age from 7.5 to 12 years; 33 were girls, 86 were boys. Bilateral temporal and parietal sites and four midline sites were used. The major difference between groups was in the low beta band, where the ADD group had greater power at the parietal and midline sites. Also, the slow learner group had marginally greater low betn at the left than right temporal site, with the opposite trend found for the dyslexic and ADD groups. Across groups, power was greater at the right than at the left parietal site in the delta and alpha bands and at the right than at the left temporal site in the low beta band. Stimulus category effects were modest, with some alpha suppression to word strings, relative to letter strings, found in the poor readers. In correlational analyses, the Combination of greater low beta and less theta power significantly predicted better reading and spelling, Results indicate that the adequate readers more actively processed the stimuli than did the poor readers.

Posttraumatic stress disorder: A sensitization reaction

This article discusses past research bearing on the question of the etiology of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It argues that PTSD can be adequately accounted for by a process of emotional sensitization and that this is a more parsimonious explanation than the two-factor learning theory of Mowrer, now postulated by several writers. In brief, the etiology and subsequent development of PTSD is viewed as the result of the sensitization of fear/anxiety which is linked to a variety of to be conditional stimuli by both backward and forward association: these become conditional stimuli (CSi) once paired with the instigating circumstances. It is furthermore assumed that PTSD will not occur in the absence of a genetic susceptibility that may vary from zero to absolute certainty. Thus far, our evidence is limited to a sensitivity to loud sounds, but it is highly probable that touch and other sensory systems are involved (not necessarily in parallel). The fact that abuse often leads to behavioral disorders, including sexually seductive behaviors in children sexually abused, requires a recognition that emotional reactions other than fear may be sensitized. Fear in combination with pleasure or pleasure alone coupled with a loss of self-esteem may explain these acting-out behaviors.