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Biomedical subjects

R S Dean

Publications and source records attributed to R S Dean.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

MMPI differences for renal, psychiatric, and general medical patients.

Renal failure has both medical and psychological implications. Indeed, various psychiatric problems related to end-stage renal disease have been reported in the literature; however, the focus has been on anxiety and depression. While previous research has dealt with the comparisons of patients with renal failure, few studies have investigated the comparison of renal patients with psychiatric and general medical patients. The present study compared renal patients (N = 24) with a group of depressed psychiatric patients (N = 24) and a group of general medical patients (N = 24) on the MMPI. The results suggested that the renal group presented a psychological profile that more closely resembled that of the depressed psychiatric group than that of patients with other chronic medical conditions.

Adaptation, Psychological

Empirical testing of a cognitive model to account for neuropsychological functioning underlying arithmetic problem solving.

The efficacy of a cognitive-based arithmetic problem-solving model (Dinnel, Glover, & Halpain, in press; Dinnel, Glover, & Ronning, 1984) was tested using 989 students with learning disabilities. Comprehensive neuropsychological test battery information was used to predict composite arithmetic test performance as a means of examining the utility of this model. Results of this study offer support for Dinnel et al.'s (Dinnel, Glover, & Halpain, in press; Dinnel, Glover, & Ronning, 1984) model in accounting for arithmetic performance under continuous visual stimulus conditions. However, these data indicate a more complex neuropsychological underpinning to arithmetic performance in both visual and aural stimulus conditions. The neuropsychological aspects of arithmetic problem solving were discussed in relationship to this cognitive-based model.

Adolescent

Sex differences in neuropsychological performance for children with reading deficits.

This study examined sex differences in neuropsychological functioning for a large sample of public school children with reading deficits. Specifically, scores on the Weschsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised (Wechsler, 1974), the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery for older children (Reitan, 1969) and the Wide Range Achievement Test (Jastak and Jastak, 1978) were compared for males and females in a multivariate fashion. Significant sex differences were found in motor, verbal and nonverbal functioning. Females seemed to be more aberrant than males in expected neuropsychological performance.

Achievement

The predictive validity of a neuropsychological screening measure.

This study examined the efficacy of a neuropsychological screening measure in discriminating between neurologically impaired and nonimpaired subjects. It also examined the ability of this screening measure correctly to classify impaired subjects according to right and left hemisphere involvement. The results showed that some 96% of subjects could be correctly classified as impaired or nonimpaired. The measure was also found correctly to identify the hemisphere involved in 95% of the impaired cases. The value and limitations of neuropsychological screening instruments was discussed in terms of portability and ease of administration.

Adult

The neuropsychological significance of a verbal-performance discrepancy with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised.

This study examined the neuropsychological significance of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (Wechsler, 1974) Verbal-Performance discrepancy using a large learning-disabled sample taken from a school population. A simple index was formed to allow the Verbal-Performance discrepancy to be considered as a continuous variable. In an attempt to consider the neuropsychological significance of the Verbal-Performance discrepancy, measures of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery for older children (HRNB) (Reitan, 1969) were regressed against the index. Some 9% of the variance in Verbal-Performance differences was explained by five neuropsychological measures of the HRNB. The practical significance of this relationship was questioned. It was concluded that the Verbal-Performance discrepancy is a poor general indicator of neuropsychological functioning in learning-disabled students in the school setting.

Adolescent

HRNB factors with simultaneous-successive marker variables.

The Halstead-Reitan neuropsychological Battery (HRNB) was factor-analyzed along with a simultaneous and successive processing index form, the WISC-R. Using 970 learning disabled children, a four factor solution was found to represent the underlying structure best. The factors included: (1) Simple Motor, (2) Tactile-Kinesthesis with simultaneous processing demands, (3) Memory/Attention with interpretable loading on the successive processing index, and (4) Noverbal Visual-Spatial Memory with simultaneous processing demands.

Adolescent

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 children's 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 children's responses over a two week delay. Results indicate that the CNSI is a relatively stable instrument for assessing children's self-report of neuropsychological symptomology. The data were interpreted as lending support for having children act as self-informants.

Adolescent

Lateral preference and processing style.

Lateral preference, as measured by the Lateral Preference Schedule, was related to the Simultaneous, Sequential and Achievement Scales of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) for a sample of 44 normal elementary school children. The results showed that, as eye preference and general laterality became more mixed, children tended to score lower on all three scales of the K-ABC. This relationship was strongest for tasks related to classroom achievement.

Child

Construct validity of the PPVT with neuropsychological, intellectual, and achievement measures.

The present investigation examined the construct validity of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) with learning-disabled children. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R), the Wide Range Achievement Test, and the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery were administered to 934 learning-disabled children. Seven factors were isolated on the basis of a principal-components factor analysis and Varimax rotation. PPVT scores were found to load on a factor similar to what has been labeled verbal comprehension on the WISC-R with little secondary loadings on any of the remaining six factors. Implications for practitioners and further research were discussed.

Aged

An examination of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) subtests from a neuropsychological perspective.

Individual subtest scores of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) were regressed on measures of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery (HRNB) for 408 psychiatric and neurologic patients. The results suggested that language skills (Aphasia Screening Test), auditory attention (Seashore Rhythm Test), psychomotor speed and general cognitive functioning (Category Test) were underlying the performance in the majority of WAIS subtests. A canonical correlation was performed to consider the degree of commonality between the WAIS and the HRNB. One significant canonical correlation between the linear components of the WAIS and HRNB tests emerged. Canonical variates showed that Block Design, Digit Symbol, and Similarities subtests of the WAIS overlapped with the Aphasia Screening Test and the Category Test of the HRNB. It was concluded that, while shared variance does exist between the WAIS and the HRNB, each offers nonredundant information regarding neuropsychological functioning.

Adult

Simultaneous and successive processes in achievement for learning disabled children.

The relationship between simultaneous and successive dimensions of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised and achievement areas of the Wide Range Achievement Test were examined by means of separate multiple correlations. The results of these analyses showed that each WRAT subtest produced a significant relationship with both processing modes. Although the magnitude of the relationship was similar for simultaneous and successive dimensions, a more consistent WRAT contribution was found for successive processing. A canonical correlation was utilized to consider the relationship between simultaneous and successive processing and achievement subtests in a single analysis. One significant correlation emerged from this procedure, Rc = 0.45. Further analysis indicated that some 8% of the variance in processing dimensions was redundant with 44% of the variance in achievement. Unlike prior findings with mentally retarded children, the present results indicated that simultaneous-successive dimensions accounted for little variance in classroom achievement.

Achievement

Patterns of lateral preference: an American-Chinese comparison.

Lateral preference patterns of Chinese and Anglo-Americans were assessed to examine the influence of gender and family history for each group. Ninety-two Chinese and a like number of Anglo-Americans were presented with a Chinese and English version of the Lateral Preference Schedule, respectively. Results indicated that Anglos were significantly less right oriented on measures of general handedness and strength. An interaction for the visually guided motor factor indicated that Anglo males were significantly more bilateral than females of their Chinese counterparts. When family history was investigated, it was found that Chinese parents were significantly more right lateralized than their Anglo cohorts. A step-wise discriminant analysis indicated that scores on both parents' lateral preference and the visually guided motor factor best predicted group membership. It was concluded that performance on the visually guided motor factor concomitant with familial lateral preference patterns best represented ethnic group differences.

Adolescent

Inducing flexibility in cognitive rigidity.

This study examined the extent to which normal learners identified as cognitively rigid could use alternate strategies when instructed to do so. The total number of rigid solutions on the standard portion of the "Three Jar Test" was used to divide eighty normal adults into high and low rigid groups. The second portion of the TJT instructed subjects to use a less rigid strategy. The two groups were compared for the total number correct and the number of rigid solutions. Analysis of these data showed that groups were not significantly different in either the extent to which the rigid solution (B-A-2C) was used nor in total number of corrects. The results were interpreted as lending support to the theoretical notion that two forms of rigidity may exist. Implications of the study seem to interest in understanding the otherwise normal rigid learner.

Adult

Differential diagnosis of primary affective depression using the Halstead-Reitan neuropsychological battery.

This study examined the utility of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery as a discriminator of primary affective depression when compared with normals and a group of mixed psychiatric patients. Orthogonal contrasts between groups showed superior performance for normals on most Halstead-Reitan subtests. Contrasts between pathological groups showed that these groups differed only on subtests associated with left hemispheric functioning, with the mixed psychiatric patients performing more poorly than the depressives. A step-wise discriminant analysis indicated that on the basis of neuropsychological variables alone, affective depressives were differentiated from normals and mixed psychiatric patients with clinical levels of accuracy. The results were discussed in terms of their implications for diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of primary affective depression.

Cerebral Cortex

A comparative factor analysis of the WISC-R by sex and age with learning disabled children.

WISC-R data were factor analyzed for a sample of 980 learning disabled subjects aged 9 through 14. Separate analyses were conducted for the total sample, males only, females only, and age-level groupings. The three-factor solution (Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Organization, and Freedom from Distractibility), previously identified in normal samples, was found to be appropriate for the learning disabled subjects in the present study for the total sample and the sex and age groupings. The Verbal Comprehension factor emerged as the most robust followed by Perceptual Organization and Freedom from Distractibility.

Adolescent

Laterality, torque and personality.

Evidence accumulating from a variety of methodological approaches suggests that unusual laterality is often a concomitant feature of emotional pathology. In the present study both torque and a multifaceted measure of laterality were examined with respect to personality variables measured by the 16 PF in a normal population. Interestingly, a pattern of emotionality for subjects with a more confused laterality was revealed in a normal population which is notably similar to reported aberrant personality factors and laterality in more pathological groups. The existence of a cohesive continuum of emotional expression in relation to confused laterality is suggested. In addition, both torque and the multifactored measure of laterality are critiqued as research measures and for their clinical potential.

Adolescent

Measuring the effects of failure with learning disabled children.

The effects of failure on performance for children diagnosed as learning disabled (reading) and normal children were compared with a simple clinical measure. As hypothesized, learning disabled children stressed with failure scored significantly (p less than .05) poorer than stressed normals on a reading posttest. Learning disabled children were seen to have developed a learned helplessness response mode and experienced greater difficulty in recovering from failure than normal cohorts. The results were interpreted as lending support to the use of a clinical measure in assessing the role played by failure in children's learning disorders.

Child

A younger aged reference group for the WISC-R.

The present study obtained WISC-R scores for a younger aged sample. Standard scores for this sample are presented along with an adequate three factor solution reflecting verbal, general performance, and auditory-attention-perceptual-performance dimensions. Furthermore, coefficients of concordance are reported for the present sample with a three factor solution for the normative WISC-R 6 1/2 year old group. Problems with the skewness of some of the subsets are discussed in light of a possible psychometrically guided approach to constructing early infant intellectual assessment measures. Implications of finding a different, from traditional, third factor are considered with respect to early school functioning.

Child