- Email: [email protected]
A study of neuropsychological impairment among school-identified learning disabled students
Session I
201
revealed significantly higher scores for Experts, higher ratings for HARD protocols, and higher ratings for SHAPE. Post-hoc analyses of significant interactions revealed a group effect only for SHAPE but not LOCATION ratings, and differfor EASY and ences in Novices’, but not Experts’, ratings of LOCATION HARD protocols. Experts, but not Novices, showed significant differences in variance of their ratings as a function of protocol type and dimension. Internal consistency estimates revealed consistently lower coefficient a values for Experts. Correlations between Experts and Novices ratings for all protocol dimensions and types were low and non-significant. The implications of these findings for current assessment practices and training in clinical neuropsychology are discussed. 49. Koziol, L. F., & Stout, C. E. Forest Hospital and Foundation The Use ofa Verbal Fluency Measure in Understanding and Evaluating ADHD as an Executive Function Disorder. Numerous authors have recommended a comprehensive, multimodal, model, of assessment for diagnosing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Psychologists are often called upon to screen for ADHD in routine psychological evaluations of young children when a comprehensive assessment is not practical or possible. This is a difficult task inasmuch as the studies that have attempted to associate neuropsychological test findings with ADHD had not been entirely successful. The proposal of ADHD as an executive function disorder raises the possibility of applying frontal lobe evaluative formats to this clinical population. With this in mind, the authors of this paper have found ADHD children are likely to demonstrate somewhat suppressed performance on verbal fluency measures, relative to other good scores when compared to a cohort group of children. This finding would appear to support the notion of the potential clinical usefulness of frontal lobe interpretive measures in the diagnostic screening of the ADHD children. The theory of the fluency measure, methodological procedure, statistical analyses and specific findings will be presented, and fully available to attendees. __ _-
9u. Kundert, D. ii., McIntosh, D. E., Shine, A. E., & Dean, ii. 3. University at Albany-SUNY, Oklahoma State University, Ball State University, and Indiana University School of Medicine A Study of Neuropsychological Impairment Among School-identified Learning Disabled Students. This investigation examined the proportion of school-identified learning disabled (LD) students who scored in the impaired range on the Halstead Neuropsychological Battery for Children (HNBC) over a twenty year period. Of the total sample of 1790 LD students, only 330 subjects scored in the impaired range on five or more of the HNBC tests. Further evaluation of these data indi-
202
Abstracts of 10th Annual Meeting
cated a significant difference in the proportion of students scoring in the impaired range before and after federal and state legislation. Specifically, a significantly higher proportion of students performed in the impaired range prior to PL 94-142 (.24) than the proportion of students who performed in the impaired range after this federal legislation (.17). Similar results were obtained when comparing the proportions of students scoring in the impaired range prior to (.23) and after (.16) Indiana Rule S-l. A similar pattern of impaired performance across the different HNBC tests was noted before and after legislation. The implications of these results for psychology and education will be discussed.
51. Lancaster, William W.; Klonoff, Elizabeth; Ross, Bradford; and Latkowski, Mark. Georgia College, California State University at San Bernardino, and Primary Children’s Medical Center Descriptive Data for the Child Behavior Checklist in Regard to Pediatric Closed Head Injury and Seizure Disorders Compared to Previously Collected Psychiatric Norms. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate scores on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL, Achenbach and Edelbrcck, 1983) obtained from two groups of neurologically impaired children. The two groups consisted of 1) pediatric patients with closed head injuries and 2) pediatric patients with seizure disorders without a primary diagnosis of closed or open head injury. Multivariate analyses of variance were used to evaluate differences between the two groups on the various derived scales. Results from these two neurologically impaired samples were also compared with established norms from pediatric psychiatric inpatients. Results are described in terms of the CBCL’s ability to discriminate among children with neurologic and psychiatric problems. Finally, the implications of the scores obtained with respect to the rehabilitation of children with either seizure disorders or closed head injuries are also discussed.
52. Lenzer, I. I., Street, P. A., & Frausin-Murphy, S. Saint Mary’s University & Nova Scotia Hospital Screening with the MEAMS: A False Negative Case Study. The Middlesex Elderly Assessment of Mental State (MEAMS) is described by Golding (1989) as a screening device for gross impairment, comprised of a comprehensive range of subtests surveying specific areas of cognitive functioning. Accordingly, it was used for a preliminary assessment of EH, a confused and disoriented 61 year old, with a history of depression, hypothyroidism, and an ambiguous EEG. In view of the MEAMS’ claim to differentiate protocols associated with depression and low intelligence from those with organically based cognitive impairments, and EH’s characteristics (e.g., low education, prior depression), the opportunity presented itself to clinically evaluate the MEAMS as a screening device. EH performed flawlessly on the MEAMS, yet a compre-
201
revealed significantly higher scores for Experts, higher ratings for HARD protocols, and higher ratings for SHAPE. Post-hoc analyses of significant interactions revealed a group effect only for SHAPE but not LOCATION ratings, and differfor EASY and ences in Novices’, but not Experts’, ratings of LOCATION HARD protocols. Experts, but not Novices, showed significant differences in variance of their ratings as a function of protocol type and dimension. Internal consistency estimates revealed consistently lower coefficient a values for Experts. Correlations between Experts and Novices ratings for all protocol dimensions and types were low and non-significant. The implications of these findings for current assessment practices and training in clinical neuropsychology are discussed. 49. Koziol, L. F., & Stout, C. E. Forest Hospital and Foundation The Use ofa Verbal Fluency Measure in Understanding and Evaluating ADHD as an Executive Function Disorder. Numerous authors have recommended a comprehensive, multimodal, model, of assessment for diagnosing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Psychologists are often called upon to screen for ADHD in routine psychological evaluations of young children when a comprehensive assessment is not practical or possible. This is a difficult task inasmuch as the studies that have attempted to associate neuropsychological test findings with ADHD had not been entirely successful. The proposal of ADHD as an executive function disorder raises the possibility of applying frontal lobe evaluative formats to this clinical population. With this in mind, the authors of this paper have found ADHD children are likely to demonstrate somewhat suppressed performance on verbal fluency measures, relative to other good scores when compared to a cohort group of children. This finding would appear to support the notion of the potential clinical usefulness of frontal lobe interpretive measures in the diagnostic screening of the ADHD children. The theory of the fluency measure, methodological procedure, statistical analyses and specific findings will be presented, and fully available to attendees. __ _-
9u. Kundert, D. ii., McIntosh, D. E., Shine, A. E., & Dean, ii. 3. University at Albany-SUNY, Oklahoma State University, Ball State University, and Indiana University School of Medicine A Study of Neuropsychological Impairment Among School-identified Learning Disabled Students. This investigation examined the proportion of school-identified learning disabled (LD) students who scored in the impaired range on the Halstead Neuropsychological Battery for Children (HNBC) over a twenty year period. Of the total sample of 1790 LD students, only 330 subjects scored in the impaired range on five or more of the HNBC tests. Further evaluation of these data indi-
202
Abstracts of 10th Annual Meeting
cated a significant difference in the proportion of students scoring in the impaired range before and after federal and state legislation. Specifically, a significantly higher proportion of students performed in the impaired range prior to PL 94-142 (.24) than the proportion of students who performed in the impaired range after this federal legislation (.17). Similar results were obtained when comparing the proportions of students scoring in the impaired range prior to (.23) and after (.16) Indiana Rule S-l. A similar pattern of impaired performance across the different HNBC tests was noted before and after legislation. The implications of these results for psychology and education will be discussed.
51. Lancaster, William W.; Klonoff, Elizabeth; Ross, Bradford; and Latkowski, Mark. Georgia College, California State University at San Bernardino, and Primary Children’s Medical Center Descriptive Data for the Child Behavior Checklist in Regard to Pediatric Closed Head Injury and Seizure Disorders Compared to Previously Collected Psychiatric Norms. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate scores on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL, Achenbach and Edelbrcck, 1983) obtained from two groups of neurologically impaired children. The two groups consisted of 1) pediatric patients with closed head injuries and 2) pediatric patients with seizure disorders without a primary diagnosis of closed or open head injury. Multivariate analyses of variance were used to evaluate differences between the two groups on the various derived scales. Results from these two neurologically impaired samples were also compared with established norms from pediatric psychiatric inpatients. Results are described in terms of the CBCL’s ability to discriminate among children with neurologic and psychiatric problems. Finally, the implications of the scores obtained with respect to the rehabilitation of children with either seizure disorders or closed head injuries are also discussed.
52. Lenzer, I. I., Street, P. A., & Frausin-Murphy, S. Saint Mary’s University & Nova Scotia Hospital Screening with the MEAMS: A False Negative Case Study. The Middlesex Elderly Assessment of Mental State (MEAMS) is described by Golding (1989) as a screening device for gross impairment, comprised of a comprehensive range of subtests surveying specific areas of cognitive functioning. Accordingly, it was used for a preliminary assessment of EH, a confused and disoriented 61 year old, with a history of depression, hypothyroidism, and an ambiguous EEG. In view of the MEAMS’ claim to differentiate protocols associated with depression and low intelligence from those with organically based cognitive impairments, and EH’s characteristics (e.g., low education, prior depression), the opportunity presented itself to clinically evaluate the MEAMS as a screening device. EH performed flawlessly on the MEAMS, yet a compre-