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PubMedDate not supplied

Enhancing communication in jargon aphasia: a small group study of writing therapy.

People with jargon aphasia have severely disordered and incomprehensible speech that may be resistant to therapeutic intervention. In this study, we treated written output and examined whether it assisted communication for these clients. In stage one of the study, anagram sorting, delayed copying and lexical decision tasks were used to investigate the residual knowledge of written words in a group of ten people with jargon aphasia. Evidence of the presence of orthographic knowledge was taken as an indication that writing might be a useful focus for therapy. This hypothesis was explored in stage two with six clients. A personally useful vocabulary was selected for each, and copying, word completion and written picture-naming tasks were used in therapy to improve written production of these words. The clients made progress in written naming. However, they showed little change on a 'message' assessment that tested their ability to use the written words to convey messages. Stage three targeted communicative writing. Here, three of the clients received 'message therapy', which encouraged them to relate treated words to functional messages and to communicate them to a partner. The clients improved on the message assessment and observation of their communication and reports from relatives suggested that they made functional use of writing in a range of communication settings.

Aged↗

PubMed2000

Discourse level writing in dyslexics--methods, results, and implications for diagnosis.

In this paper, we investigate some aspects of the written language production process in dyslexic writers. A group of adult dyslexic writers are compared with a control group and a group of congenitally deaf writers. We present analyses of the actions of both constructing and editing linguistic units during on-line writing. The results suggest that in order to understand the organization of how linguistic units are constructed in writing, we need to take both cognitive and socio-communicative factors into account. We must also recognize that on-line recordings could contribute important data in the diagnosis of writing difficulties. We propose that the temporal distribution, pause frequencies and nested editings on the word level are good candidates for such a diagnostic purpose.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Writing disorders in Italian aphasic patients. A multiple single-case study of dysgraphia in a language with shallow orthography.

We report results of a writing task given to 53 mildly to moderately aphasic Italian subjects. The task was designed to test the writing performance along the subword-level routine for the spelling of regular words and non-words, and along the lexical routine for the spelling of irregular words. The aim of the study was to identify the incidence of different dysgraphic subtypes in Italian, a language that is considered to have shallow orthography. Its spelling, however, is not completely free of ambiguity. A five-part writing task was used: (i) words with regular one-sound-to-one-grapheme conversion; (ii) words with regular syllabic conversion; (iii) words with ambiguous transcription; (iv) loan-words; and (v) non-words. For regular words, the effects of word length and word frequency, and of the variables determining the complexity of the acoustic-to-phonological conversion (continuant versus plosive phones; consonant-vowel sequence versus doubled consonants or consonant clusters) were also considered. Patients' performances were classified according to the presence of a dissociation between (i) regular words and non-words, (ii) regular words and words with unpredictable spellings, and (iii) one-to-one and syllabic conversions. The 53 aphasic patients span the whole spectrum of dysgraphic taxonomy. Thirty-nine patients, in particular, manifested a dissociated pattern of performance. Eighteen patients showed a prevalent surface dysgraphic pattern and seven a phonological one, while 11 patients showed a mixed pattern (i.e. a better performance for regular words than for ambiguous words or regular non-words). Three patients showed a specific deficit for regular syllabic conversion rules only. A high rate of 'mixed dysgraphia' suggests either a mutual interaction of the two impaired routines when regular words are written, or two separate functional lesions: one at the level of the auditory-to-phonological conversion procedure, the other at the level of the orthographic output lexicon.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during mental writing with phonograms.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 1.5 T using a gradient echo echo-planar sequence was employed to identify brain regions activated during the performance of a mental writing task using phonograms. Four regions were activated in all six subjects; the region surrounding the left intraparietal sulcus, the region surrounding the middle part of the left precentral sulcus and the posterior part of the left superior frontal sulcus, the region surrounding the right intraparietal sulcus, and the region surrounding either or both of the left and right cingulate sulci. The left intraparietal region was usually the most extensively activated. The results suggest that these four regions particularly the left intraparietal region, are essential in writing with phonograms. Since the left hemisphere was more extensively activated than the right, fMRI during the mental writing task is a good candidate for determining non-invasively which hemisphere is dominant for language.

Adult↗

PubMed1976

A mandatory course in scientific writing for undergraduate medical students.

All students at Mayo Medical School take a course in scientific writing during their sophomore and junior years. Early in the sophomore year they receive a self-instructional text designed to help them avoid 15 common writing faults. Comparison of pretest and posttest results for two classes, with a total of 89 students, indicates significant improvement (p less than .001). Later in his sophomore year, each student writes a minithesis; and during his junior year he reports on work done in a clinical or laboratory research project, preparing it as a paper submissible to a scientific journal. Professional editors work as preceptors with the students, critiquing their manuscripts, which are revised until they receive satisfactory ratings.

Education, Medical, Undergraduate↗

PubMed1990

Scientific writing courses for pediatrics fellows.

A six-week course in scientific writing and publishing was developed for pediatrics fellows at the University of Florida College of Medicine in 1984. It covered three areas: (1) grammar, syntax, and prose style; (2) construction of scientific papers; and (3) the submissions and review process. Increasing enrollment and the requests of course graduates led to the development of a second course, Advanced Scientific Writing; both courses are now offered annually. Class materials consist of texts in scientific writing, comprehensive syllabi, and handouts; the focus is on workshop activities, exercises, collaboration with peers, and individual consultations with the instructor. At the end of each course, participants complete detailed evaluation instruments, and the data obtained are used to modify the course's structure and content the following year.

Education, Medical, Continuing↗

PubMed2003

Teaching students how to read and write science: a mandatory course on scientific research and communication in medicine.

The authors describe the development and introduction of a course on scientific methodology and communication into the medical curriculum in a country outside of the mainstream scientific world. As editors of a general medical journal in Croatia, they learned that their colleagues had important and interesting data but no skills for presenting them in a scientific article. To alleviate the lack of education in research methodology and writing, the authors developed and introduced a mandatory course in scientific methodology and communication into the medical curriculum of the largest Croatian medical school. The course is structured into lectures, medium-sized-group discussions, and problem-solving small-group work, and is focused on (1) principles of scientific research; (2) access to medical literature and bibliographic databases; (3) study design and analysis and presentation of data; (4) assessing and writing a scientific article; and (5) responsible conduct of research. The course has been running since 1995-96 and is already showing results, visible in the more positive attitude of students toward scientific research and evidence-based medicine, and a significant number of students working on research projects and publishing scientific papers. The authors and colleagues also run continuing education courses for young academic physicians and an annual advanced workshop on scientific writing, involving academic physicians from all of southeastern Europe. The long-term goal is to create a critical mass of academic physicians with critical appraisal skills needed for evidence-based medicine and with skills for effectively communicating their research to the international scientific community.

Biomedical Research↗

PubMed2004

Personal illness narratives: using reflective writing to teach empathy.

Reflective writing is one established method for teaching medical students empathetic interactions with patients. Most such exercises rely on students' reflecting upon clinical experiences. To effectively elicit, interpret, and translate the patient's story, however, a reflective practitioner must also be self-aware, personally and professionally. Race, gender, and other embodied sources of identity of practitioners and patients have been shown to influence the nature of clinical communication. Yet, although medical practice is dedicated to examining, diagnosing, and treating bodies, the relationship of physicians to their own physicality is vexed. Medical training creates a dichotomy whereby patients are identified by their bodies while physicians' bodies are secondary to physicians' minds. As a result, little opportunity is afforded to physicians to deal with personal illness experiences, be they their own or those of loved ones. This article describes a reflective writing exercise conducted in a second-year medical student humanities seminar. The "personal illness narrative" exercise created a medium for students to elicit, interpret, and translate their personal illness experiences while witnessing their colleagues' stories. Qualitative analysis of students' evaluation comments indicated that the exercise, although emotionally challenging, was well received and highly recommended for other students and residents. The reflective writing exercise may be incorporated into medical curricula aimed at increasing trainees' empathy. Affording students and residents an opportunity to describe and share their illness experiences may counteract the traditional distancing of physicians' minds from their bodies and lead to more empathic and self-aware practice.

Curriculum↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A brief guide to writing better test questions.

Writing high-quality test questions is not an easy task. This report offers a brief summary of how to write more effective multiple choice questions and reasoning questions based on the principles of adult learning theory. The intent of this article is to present a brief overview of information for readers at a formative level who are interested in basic question-writing tips.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Writing for publication: you can do it!

Writing for publication can be an intimidating process but it does not have to be. The thrill of seeing your first publication is one you will never forget. Many nurses, for a variety of reasons, do not write articles for publication. This article will discuss the barriers to writing and how to overcome them.

Journalism↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Responding to student writing.

Sunday evening. You can't put off any longer the chore of correcting the stack of student papers. Picking up the first one, you scan it. It isn't good. The paper is full of sentence fragments and typographical errors. You decide that this is going to be a long evening. Scenes like this, hours spent correcting students' papers, only to discover that the students barely look at the comments, may lead faculty to avoid assigning writing. Fortunately, there are effective ways to respond to student writing without tying oneself down to hours of tedious correcting. These techniques can help nursing faculty enjoy reading and responding to students' papers, as well as help students to improve their writing skills.

Educational Measurement↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The intimate dialogue: journal writing by students.

Nurse educators have long used logs and diaries with students in clinical settings. However, the literature is not specific about the development or implementation of journal writing in nursing classrooms. To guide nurse educators interested in integrating journal writing into their repertoire of teaching strategies, the author reviews relevant literature and describes a triangulation model for journal writing assignments tailored for nursing classrooms.

Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate↗

PubMed2004

Characteristics of writing disorders in Italian dyslexic children.

OBJECTIVE: This study characterizes the spelling impairment of Italian dyslexic children and evaluates the relationship between reading and spelling disorders. BACKGROUND: Developmental spelling deficits are much less investigated than reading deficits. Based on the dual-model approach, studies of English-speaking subjects describe a surface and a phonological dysgraphia. In languages with shallow orthographies, there is evidence of surface and phonological dyslexia, but no data are available for dysgraphia. METHODS: Eighteen dyslexic children were studied. Writing was investigated by means of a spelling test that included regular words with one-sound-to-one-letter correspondence, regular words requiring syllabic conversion rules, words with unpredictable transcription, and nonwords with one-sound-to-one-letter correspondence. The dyslexics' spelling errors were compared with those of 30 age-matched proficient readers. RESULTS: The dyslexic participants were very slow readers. Their errors were compatible with the hypothesis of a prevalent use of the sublexical reading procedure (i.e., surface dyslexia). They were also generally impaired with respect to the control children in all subsections of the spelling test. However, multivariate and single case analyses as well as qualitative analysis of errors indicated that their major problem was writing words with unpredictable transcription. This failure was consistent with the view of prevalent subword level processing in writing. CONCLUSION: The pattern of the spelling impairment mirrors the children's reading impairment, with most children suffering from surface dysgraphia.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Writing a grant proposal--part 2: research methods--part 2.

As part of a Spotlight series on grant writing by members of the Center for Clinical Investigation of the Wound Ostomy and Continence Nursing (WOCN) Society, this article completes an explanation about writing the Methods section of a grant proposal. The aim of this series is to enhance the skills of WOC nurses to increase submissions of high-quality grants related to WOC nursing science and success in garnering funding, particularly from foundation grants, such as that of the WOCN. In this article, writing about the sample and setting, power analysis, sampling and recruitment procedures, implementation and data collection procedures, statistical analysis plan, and ethical considerations are described.

Data Collection↗

PubMed2005

The self invented personality? Reflections on authenticity and writing analytic papers.

One of the great themes of American literature is the self-invented personality, whether it is Scott Fitzgerald's Gatsby or one of Philip Roth's alter egos, such as Nathaniel Zuckerman. This is just one of several approaches which novelists employ. They take a problem from life, perhaps their own, and then embark on solving the problem of the book-which is how to write about this. Sometimes, as in Tobias Wolff's novel Old School, the personality of the narrator is woven into an exploration of the creative process itself. Wolff's novel concerns itself not just with writing but with how to become a writer. I explore how this process is similar to both writing about analysis and becoming an analyst. In doing this I discuss issues of authenticity, fiction, art, the effects of identification, the power of the super-ego, supervision and learning, integrity of life and work, envy and the xenocidal impulse, the regulation of our profession and the loss of trust, and in so doing join in discussion with Plaut, Wharton, Tuckett and others about professional communications, the internal world and the mysteriousness of our relation to our internal objects.

Humans↗

PubMed1996

Reflective journal writing in nurse education: whose interests does it serve?

The use of reflective journal writing has become popularized in the past decade. This paper uses the experience of two university lecturers to problematize this practice. The practice of journal writing in nursing courses is explored firstly through the lens of critical theory and secondly that of post-structuralism. This paper challenges nurse academics to confront the power relationships established by the adoption of journal writing uncritically into courses.

Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate↗

PubMed2006

Effects of writing about emotions versus goals on psychological and physical health among third-year medical students.

A randomized, controlled trial compared writing about emotional topics (EMO) to writing about goals as the "best possible self" (BPS; after King, 2001) and evaluated emotional approach coping, i.e., efforts to cope through processing and expressing emotion, as a moderator of writing effects on psychological and physical health in 64 third-year medical students. In participants with higher baseline hostility, the EMO condition was associated with less hostility at 3 months compared to the BPS and control conditions. Emotional processing (EP) and emotional expression (EE) moderated the effect of experimental condition on depressive symptoms at 3 months; high EP/EE participants reported fewer depressive symptoms in the EMO condition, whereas low EP/EE individuals reported fewer depressive symptoms in the BPS condition compared to the EMO and control conditions. A moderating effect of EP on physical health was also identified, such that low EP individuals who wrote about goals (BPS) had fewer health care visits at 3 months compared to low EP participants in the EMO and control conditions.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2004

Writing more informative letters of reference.

Writing a meaningful and valuable letter of reference is not an easy task. Several factors influence the quality of any letter of reference. First, the accuracy and reliability of the writer's impressions and judgment depend on how well he knows the individual being described. Second, the writer's frame of reference, which is determined by the number of persons at the same level that he has worked with, will impact the context and significance of his beliefs and estimations. Third, the letter-writing skills of the person composing the letter will naturally affect the letter. To support the other components of a candidate's application, a letter of reference should provide specific examples of how an individual's behavior or attitude compares to a reference group and should assess "intangibles" that are hard to glean from a curriculum vitae or from test scores. This report offers suggestions that should help physicians write more informative letters of reference.

Correspondence as Topic↗