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Biomedical subjects

J A Burack

Publications and source records attributed to J A Burack.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Age differences in visual search for compound patterns: long- versus short-range grouping.

Visual search for compound patterns was examined in observers aged 6, 8, 10, and 22 years. The main question was whether age-related improvement in search rate (response time slope over number of items) was different for patterns defined by short- versus long-range spatial relations. Perceptual access to each type of relation was varied by using elements of same contrast (easy to access) or mixed contrast (hard to access). The results showed large improvements with age in search rate for long-range targets; search rate for short-range targets was fairly constant across age. This pattern held regardless of whether perceptual access to a target was easy or hard, supporting the hypothesis that different processes are involved in perceptual grouping at these two levels. The results also point to important links between ontogenic and microgenic change in perception (H. Werner, 1948, 1957).

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Perceptual processing among high-functioning persons with autism.

Two tasks were used to assess the processing of whole versus parts of objects in a group of high-functioning children and adolescents with autism (N = 11) and a comparison group of typically developing peers (N = 11) matched for chronological age and IQ. In the first task, only the children with autism showed a global advantage, and the two groups showed similar interference between levels. In the second task, the children with autism, despite longer RTs, showed similar performance to the comparison group with regard to the effect of goodness on visual parsing. Contrary to expectations based on the central coherence and hierarchisation deficit theories, these findings indicate intact holistic processing among persons with autism. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to apparently discrepant evidence from other studies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Theory of mind and rule use in individuals with Down's syndrome: a test of the uniqueness and specificity claims.

The relationship between Theory of Mind (ToM) and rule use was explored in adults with Down's Syndrome (DS) and in non-handicapped pre-schoolers. Twelve low-functioning individuals with DS (mean mental age = 5.1 years, mean chronological age = 22.7) performed worse than 12 MA-matched non-handicapped children (mean MA = 5.1 years) on several standard ToM tasks and on a color-shape card-sorting task in which subjects were required to switch between two incompatible sets of rules. On the ToM tasks, people with DS tended to focus on a single state of affairs (e.g. the present situation). Likewise, on the card sort, these subjects tended to use a single set of rules on all trials. Performance in the two types of task was positively correlated when MA was partialed out. The results are inconsistent with the slaim that ToM reflects a domain-specific psychological function and the notion that deficits in ToM are unique to individuals with autism.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Selective attention deficits in persons with autism: preliminary evidence of an inefficient attentional lens.

A forced-choice reaction time (RT) task was used to assess the filtering component of selective attention in mental-age (MA) matched groups of persons with autism (n = 12), organic mental retardation (n = 32), familial mental retardation (n = 30), and no handicap (n = 34). Conditions varied with regard to the presence or absence of a window and number (zero, two or four) and location of distractors. The RTs of the persons with autism improved relative to the other groups in the presence of the window without distractors, but this effect was negated when distractors were also presented. The performance of the persons with autism was the most impaired in the presence of distractors. These findings represent preliminary behavioral evidence of an inefficient attentional lens among persons with autism.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Development of low- and high-functioning autistic children.

Aspects of developmental sequences and structures were assessed in low- and high-functioning autistic and non-autistic developmentally disabled children. Specific developmental issues examined included sequences, regressions and profiles. Classification into the high- or low-functioning groups was based on a full scale IQ cutoff of 50. In general, there were few differences in the sequences of development among the groups. However, the autistic children were more likely than non-autistic children to display developmental regressions and unevenness across developmental domains. These developmental peculiarities were more pronounced in the low- as compared to high-functioning autistic children. These findings are discussed with regard to issues of developmental processes, classification and autism.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1990

Intentional and incidental memory in organically mentally retarded, familial retarded, and nonretarded individuals.

Groups of organically mentally retarded, familial retarded, and nonretarded subjects were compared on two tasks of intentional memory and one of incidental memory. With mental age being covaried, the familial group did better than the organic group on both tasks of intentional memory. However, the performance of both retarded groups was inferior to that of the nonretarded children. The three groups did not differ on incidental learning. The finding of differences between organically retarded and familial retarded persons supports the view that etiology needs to be considered when studying cognitive functioning in mentally retarded persons. The differences between the familial retarded and nonretarded groups appear to be in contradiction to the similar structure hypothesis of mental retardation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Personality development and the dually diagnosed person.

Researchers in mental retardation have traditionally focused on cognitive aspects of the disorder and ignored social and personality factors. One consequence is that little attention has been paid to the mental health of mentally retarded persons. The argument is made that the personalities of mentally retarded persons are affected by the same factors that impact upon the personalities of nonretarded persons. The life experiences of mentally retarded persons, however have been shown to lead to personalities that are often characterized by overdependency on others, low aspiration levels, and outerdirected problem-solving styles. These personality characteristics are implicated in the high rate of mental unhealth in mentally retarded persons. Finally, the value of extending the developmental approach to the study of psychiatric problems in mentally retarded persons is discussed.

Child↗
PubMed1989

Age at first hospitalization and premorbid social competence in schizophrenia and affective disorder.

Paranoid schizophrenics were found to be more similar to affective disordered patients than to other types of schizophrenics on age at first hospitalization and premorbid social competence. These findings support an earlier formulation of paranoid schizophrenia as a reflection of underlying affective disorder rather than as a subtype of schizophrenia. In addition, in all the diagnostic groups, women were found to be older than men at first hospitalization.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1988

Issues in the classification of mental retardation: differentiating among organic etiologies.

Many researchers of mental retardation fail to take etiological differences into account, although the value of distinguishing between organic and familial mental retardation has long been discussed. The argument is made that even the two-group approach needs to be extended so that groups with different organic etiologies are studied separately. Taking etiological distinctions into account will allow for more precise research and a better understanding of mental retardation. Evidence for the utility of differentiating retarded persons by etiology is provided by a research review showing examples of behavioral differences between organically retarded groups. It is concluded that such differentiation also has clear implications for intervention.

Child↗