Browsing by Author "Hayden, Mary Ellen"
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Item A study of intellectual recovery following closed head injury(1988) Bailey, Cynthia A.; Fletcher, Jack M.; Francis, David J.; Foorman, Barbara R.; Hayden, Mary EllenPrevious studies have utilized the WAIS and WAIS-R to assess the level of intellectual functioning after closed head injury, and have found that the Full Scale scores are depressed within the first year, and show a gradual improvement over time. The Verbal scale is usually higher that the Performance scale and exhibits a faster recovery rate. The present study focused on identifying subject variables (such as premorbid IQ and severity of injury) which contribute to the initial depression of IQ scores, and on determining the reasons for the VIQ-PIQ discrepancy. Results indicated that premorbid intellectual levels and severity of injury were correlated with change in IQ scores over time. Also, the interval between injury and readiness to be tested was significantly related to IQ at follow-up. The VIQ-PIQ discrepancy appeared to be an artefact of deficits in visual discrimination and motor programming at baseline. At follow-up there was no overall discrepancy, but visual discrimination was correlated with Performance IQ. Implications of these results will be discussed.Item An evaluation of cognitive retraining for brain injury using a new single-case methodology(1983) Hart, Tessa; Sheer, Daniel. E.; Carbonari, Joseph P.; Hayden, Mary Ellen; Lachman, RoyFour patients with vascular damage to the right cerebral hemisphere received cognitive retraining for left neglect (two subjects) or constructional dyspraxia, using a microcomputer with software specifically designed for this purpose. In a modified multiple baseline across subjects design, subjects within each training category received single (10-session) or double (20-session) phases of baseline training irrelevant to the cognitive deficit, followed by double or single phases of training directed toward the impairment. At four points during training, three dependent measures were administered to assess direct effects of training and three to assess transfer of training. Data were analyzed using a new approach to the interpretation of single-subject data at an inferential level. Regression analyses were conducted on data from each subject separately, using numerically coded, idealized models of treatment effects and recovery as independent variables. A randomization procedure was used to test the significance of statistics representing the proportion of systematic variance in the dependent measures due uniquely to treatment, uniquely to recovery, and to their shared effect. The results illustrated a variety of outcomes. Variance in the training measures of one subject could be explained mostly by treatment effects; for another subject the recovery model was the better predictor. In a third case, the pattern of change was best explained by the variance shared between treatment and recovery. The final subject showed little evidence of recovery or treatment effects. For three of the subjects, the transfer-of-training measures were not well predicted by either the treatment or the recovery model. For one subject, variance in these scores was accounted for by unique effects of both recovery and treatment, but this was not considered to reflect a clinically meaningful pattern of change. This finding, as well as the others obtained in the sample, demonstrated the importance of considering the full complement of significance test results in order to derive meaningful interpretations.Item Declarative and procedural memory during post traumatic amnesia(1987) Ewert, Jeff; Levin, Harvey S.; Fletcher, Jack M.; Carbonari, Joseph P., Jr.; Hayden, Mary Ellen; Hanson, Philip G.Declarative and procedural learning during the post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) phase of recovery from head injury were examined. Sixteen severe closed head injured patients and matched controls were each tested on three consecutive days, and then on a fourth day once the patients had recovered from PTA. Subjects in PTA consistently performed below control levels on all the tests. Significant improvement during PTA was found by the PTA subjects on the procedural tests. These same subjects retained the procedural skills when PTA had resolved. In contrst, declarative memory did not improve during PTA, but increased significantly after recovery from PTA. Rate of learning during PTA varied across procedural tests, and motor learning showed greater improvement post PTA than pattern-analyzing skill. Procedural motor learning was not correlated with motor disability, and length of coma was only related to pattern-analyzing procedural skill.Item Differential effect of directed attention on input versus output pathways(1986) Sergi, Frank; Breitmeyer, Bruno G.; Sheer, Daniel E.; Hayden, Mary Ellen; Levi, Dennis M.The effect of directed attention cued by a peripheral cue or foveal stimulus on a temporal discrimination task and simple RT detection task was investigated. Directed attention (both voluntary and automatic) demonstrated no effect on peripheral temporal discrimination. The simple RT detection task was employed to investigate the spatial aspects of directed attention as well as the efficiency of various cue-types. The no-cue condition was superior to both a peripheral and a foveal or central cue condition. It was concluded that spatial cues incur costs rather than benefits to RT and these costs are directly related to the SOA interval between the cue and target. The comparison of spatial cues showed peripheral cueing to be superior to central cueing. This finding was attributed to longer cue processing time and attention shift time required by the central cue. For both spatial cues, clear advantages were found for the cued hemifield relative to the miscued (opposite) hemifield. Within hemifield differences between cued and miscued targets were not found. These results indicate that in this study directed attention operated like a "floodlight" restricted to the attended hemifield rather than as a "flashlight" or beam. Kinsbourne's attentional model of cerebral lateral asymmetry appears to be consistent with this floodlight mechanism. Attentional biasing of the cued hemisphere however did not facilitate motor (output) channels. Additional evidence was presented to suggest the possibility that under the condition of voluntary attention, some intrahemifield differences between cued and miscued targets may occur. Independent findings as well as physiological evidence to support this possibility that attention may additionally operate like a spatially restricted "flashlight" or "beam" were also discussed.Item Language deficits after severe closed head injury(1988) Ortego, Stuart W.; Fletcher, Jack M.; Hayden, Mary Ellen; Loren, Cathy A.Forty-nine rehabilitated closed head injury patients were assessed with the Multilingual Aphasia Examination (MAE). Patients were grouped into subclinical aphasics, dysarthrics, and aphasics. Tests of Visual Naming and Sentence Repetition were analyzed for differences among groups. Aphasics performed significantly worse on Visual Naming than Sentence Repetition; there was no significant difference between scores for dysarthrics and subclinical aphasics. Naming deficits did not appear to affect intellectual performance as measured by VIQ and PIQ of the WAIS-R. There was no relationship between length of coma and naming deficit. Findings were discussed as they relate to current theories of naming dysfunction, and how these theories might relate to closed head injury.Item Recovery of memory following closed head injury(1985) Hart, Tessa; Hayden, Mary Ellen; Sheer, Daniel. E.; Carbonari, Joseph P., Jr.; Gaa, John P.The acute effects of severe closed head injury (CHI) on memory, and recovery of memory in the first posttraumatic year, were studied longitudinally in 63 patients. A memory test battery was administered within six months of injury and again up to 13 months post trauma. Data from subjects tested three times during the year were subjected to descriptive analysis of recovery patterns. The effects of injury severity, indexed by post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) duration, on memory and its recovery were also studied. Consistent with previous research, acute impairment was observed on most tasks of learning and memory exceeding the immediate span. Significant improvement occurred on all measures that had indicated acute dysfunction. In contrast to previous findings, PTA was not significantly related to initial level of impairment or to magnitude of recovery. Reasons for these discrepancies, and implications for research on recovery of cognition after CHI, are discussed.Item Sensory preconditioning in the goldfish(1972) Hayden, Mary Ellen; Braud, William G.; Brown, Eric R.Sensory preconditioning (SPC) has been demonstrated in organisms from humans to birds on the phylogenetic scale. Several attempts to precondition fish, however, have been unsuccessful. This study was an attempt to make use of phylogenetic trends discovered by Soviet experimenters to devise a successful SPC experiment with fish. Three experiments were conducted using an appetitive task to test for preconditioning effects. Although results of these tests were not uniformly statistically significant, the data were highly suggestive of some SPC effect. Possible modifications of the experimental design to further explore SPC in the fish are discussed.Item The effect of modifying physiological arousal on attention disorders following closed head injury(1987) Plenger, Patrick M.; Sheer, Daniel E.; Hayden, Mary Ellen; Breitmeyer, Bruno G.; Francis, David J.; Foorman, Barbara R.Research has demonstrated that general arousal in closed head injury (CHI) patients is greater than that of normals. This study investigated the effects of modifying measures of physiological arousal on attention in patients suffering varying severity of CHI. It was hypothesized that normalizing physiological arousal in CHI patients would improve attention. Two categories of patients were identified: 1. two patients with evidence of physiological under-arousal and 2. four patients with physiological signs of over-arousal. Biofeedback training of heart-rate, skin potential level and electormyographic activity of the frontalis muscle was conducted on all patients. The under-aroused patients were taught to increase these measures, while the over-aroused patients were taught to decrease these measures. Results indicated that both patient groups attained some degree of control over physiological arousal. All patients demonstrated improved performance on attention tasks, however attributing improvement to changes in arousal was rendered difficult due to noted practice effects.Item The relationship between divergent and analytical thinking and hemispheric specialization in man(1973) Hayden, Mary EllenThe two cerebral hemispheres in man are specialized for processing information in diverse ways. One side analyzes input in a logical, sequential manner. The other side is more intuitive, recognizing wholes from parts and combining information to form relationships. Previous experiments have identified individuals within the normal population who have poorly lateralized hemispheric functions. In a college population this generally is manifested by suppression of the synthetic. Gestalt functioning typical of the right hemisphere. The present experiment was an attempt to assess the effect of poor lateral specialization on some higher cognitive abilities, specifically analytical and divergent thinking. Fifty-four Ss from the Arts and Sciences Dean's List and from the Honors Program at University of Houston were screened on the Harris Test for Lateral Dominance and on Nebes' Arc-Circle Test of right hemispheric accessibility. Twenty-four of these Ss were assigned, on the basis of their test performance, to two groups: Well Lateralized Group and Poorly Lateralized Group. The two groups were then compared on two batteries of tests. The Analytic Battery included five tests: Flexibility of Closure, Planning, Concept Mastery, Arithmetic, and Reasoning. The Divergent Battery was composed of eight of Guilford's tests designed to tap flexibility, fluency, and originality of thought. The hypothesis being evaluated was that no differences would be found between the groups on tests in the Analytic Battery because these tap left hemispheric functioning which is not affected by poor laterality in this population. The Well Lateralized Group was expected to be superior on tests in the Divergent Battery, however, because these tests require a bimodal approach for solution. Performance on two tests in the Analytic Battery was significantly higher for the Well Lateralized Group than for the Poorly Lateralized Group. One of the tests. Flexibility of Closure (t=2.68, df=22, p<.02, two-tailed test), probably requires a bimodal approach for solution and, therefore, should have been included in the Divergent Battery. Differences on the second test. Planning (t=2.26, df=22, p<.05, two-tailed test), are more difficult to understand but may be related to the concrete nature of the test items. The only Divergent Test which resulted in significantly different performance by the two groups was Decoration (t=1.81, df=22, p<.05, one-tailed test), which involves spatial elements. The short time limit imposed on the Ss during the Divergent Tests may have prevented group differences on the other tests in the battery. The primary value of the present research has been to elucidate which areas of research in this area might be most fruitful to pursue.