Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a major concern for health professionals as it is a leading cause of death and disability in the United States. Patients can experience difficulties that include intellectual impairment, memory impairment, and executive functioning deficits. Psychometric tests have been used to assist in the diagnosis of head injuries. Specifically, the Wechsler scales are recognized in the scientific and medical communities as the most widely utilized measure of general intellectual function in older adolescents and adults. The recently published Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) is a revision of the WAIS-III. No studies have been published to date relevant to the effects of head trauma or other neurological disorders due to the recent introduction of the test. The purpose of the study was to understand the immediate intellectual consequences of head injury in adults along a continuum of severity, evaluate whether new additions to the WAIS-IV provide additional information about the effects of head trauma, and determine if the length of recovery affects the WAIS-IV indices differently. A total of 47 participants between the ages of 18-89 were selected from inpatient and outpatient admissions at a major trauma center. Participants who had sustained a closed-head injury were selected and tested between 1 month and 36 months post-injury (once any post traumatic amnesia had resolved). Patients were administered the Galveston Orientation Amnesia Test, Wechsler Test of Adult Reading, and WAIS-IV. The main question addressed by the current study was the extent to which brain injured adults display intellectual deficits and if these were consistent with those observed on prior versions of the Wechsler scales. An examination of the pattern of intellectual impairments and the effects of demographic corrections on the WAIS-IV was also conducted. Results indicated that the WAIS-IV IQ and indexes were reduced significantly by traumatic brain injury, and that more severe injuries were likely to show the most pronounced effect on the Processing Speed Index. Abnormalities visualized by brain CT or MRI scans were associated with lower IQ's and index scores than were shown by patients with traumatic head injury that had normal CT scans. There was no evidence that corrections for educational level, ethnicity, and gender improved the sensitivity of the WAIS-IV to injury severity beyond that obtained by corrections for age.

Tidigare forskning har visat att individer uppväxta i Japan presterar bättre än individer uppväxta i USA på test avsedda att mäta spatial förmåga. En hypotes till varför har varit att en intensiv exponering för och kunskap om bildmässigt komplicerade skrifttecken (Kanji), skapar gynnsamma förutsättningar för prestationer på test av spatial förmåga. Föreliggande studie undersökte om det fanns ytterligare kognitiva domäner där Kanjikunskap kunde vara av fördel. Universitetsstudenter från Japan (n=14) med Kanjikunskap (KK) och universitetsstudenter från Sverige (n=14) utan Kanjikunskap (UKK) testades med Symbolletning från WAIS-IV för att jämföra gruppernas prestationer. Studenterna från Japan (KK) presterade signifikant högre på Symbolletning än studenterna från Sverige (UKK). Eventuell påverkan av KK samt andra faktorer som kan ha bidragit till skillnad i prestationer mellan studentgrupperna diskuteras.

BAKGRUND: Fysisk aktivitet har påvisats ha en positiv effekt på de områden i hjärnan som är kopplade till inlärning och minne. Dock är det oklart hur stor påverkan en individs fysiska kapacitetsnivå har på dessa områden. SYFTE: Syftet med studien var att undersöka ifall en intervention i form av fysisk aktivitet kan påverka arbetsminnet, och ifall en grupp individer presterar annorlunda på ett arbetsminnestest efter interventionen beroende på deras syreupptagningsförmåga. METOD: Studien hade en kvantitativ och kvasiexperimentell design utan kontrollgrupp. En grupp om 33 kvinnor, åldern 20-30 år utförde testet som bestod utav minnestestet Letter-number sequencing task före och efter 10 minuters intervention i form av submaximal ergometercykling. Samtidigt som interventionen beräknades individernas maximala syreupptagningsförmåga med hjälp av Åstrands cykelergometertest. Beroende av resultatet på cykelergometertestet delades testpersonerna in i två grupper som representerade hög/mycket hög (grupp 1) syreupptagningsförmåga respektive låg/genomsnittlig (grupp 2) syreupptagningsförmåga. RESULTAT: Medianvärdet på LNS innan interventionen var 20,5 för grupp 1 (n=20) respektive 21 för grupp 2 (n=13). Detta medianvärde förbättrades med en enhet för båda grupperna vid LNS efter interventionen. Skillnaden inom gruppresultaten före och efter interventionen var icke-signifikant med ett P-värde på 0,614 för grupp 1 och 0,891 för grupp 2. Skillnaden i förändring mellan grupperna var heller ej signifikant med ett P-värde på 0,854. KONKLUSION: Arbetsminnet påverkades inte av 10 minuters fysisk aktivitet i någon av gruppjämförelserna. En individs syreupptagningsförmåga verkar heller inte påverka arbetsminnet. / BACKGROUND: Physical activity has been shown to have a positive effect on the areas of the brain connected to learning and memory. Even so, it is uncertain how much a person’s level of physical capacity influences these areas. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to examine if an intervention of physical activity could affect working memory, and whether a group of people perform differently during a working memory test after the intervention depending on their oxygen uptake. METHODS: The study had a quantitive and quasiexperimental design without control group. A group of 33 women, 20-30 years of age, conducted the test which consisted of the memory test Letter-number sequencing task before and after 10 minutes of submaximal ergometer cycling. During the intervention the individual’s maximal oxygen uptake was calculated with the Åstrand cycle ergometer test. Depending on the results from the cycle ergometer test, the testsubjects was split into two groups which represented high/very high (group 1) oxygen uptake and low/average (group 2) oxygen uptake. RESULTS: The median of LNS before the intervention was 20,5 for group 1 (n=20) and 21 for group 2 (n=13). This median improved with one unit for both groups at LNS after the intervention. The difference between the results within the groups before and after the intervention proved to be non-significant with a P-value of 0,614 for group 1 and 0,891 for group 2. The difference in change between the groups was neither significant with a P-value of 0,854. CONCLUSION: Working memory was not affected of 10 minutes of physical activity in neither of the comparison between the groups. It also seems that an individual’s oxygen uptake doesn’t affect working memory.

BAKGRUND: Fysisk aktivitet har påvisats ha en positiv effekt på de områden i hjärnan som är kopplade till inlärning och minne. Dock är det oklart hur stor påverkan en individs fysiska kapacitetsnivå har på dessa områden. SYFTE: Syftet med studien var att undersöka ifall en intervention i form av fysisk aktivitet kan påverka arbetsminnet, och ifall en grupp individer presterar annorlunda på ett arbetsminnestest efter interventionen beroende på deras syreupptagningsförmåga. METOD: Studien hade en kvantitativ och kvasiexperimentell design utan kontrollgrupp. En grupp om 33 kvinnor, åldern 20-30 år utförde testet som bestod utav minnestestet Letter-number sequencing task före och efter 10 minuters intervention i form av submaximal ergometercykling. Samtidigt som interventionen beräknades individernas maximala syreupptagningsförmåga med hjälp av Åstrands cykelergometertest. Beroende av resultatet på cykelergometertestet delades testpersonerna in i två grupper som representerade hög/mycket hög (grupp 1) syreupptagningsförmåga respektive låg/genomsnittlig (grupp 2) syreupptagningsförmåga. RESULTAT: Medianvärdet på LNS innan interventionen var 20,5 för grupp 1 (n=20) respektive 21 för grupp 2 (n=13). Detta medianvärde förbättrades med en enhet för båda grupperna vid LNS efter interventionen. Skillnaden inom gruppresultaten före och efter interventionen var icke-signifikant med ett P-värde på 0,614 för grupp 1 och 0,891 för grupp 2. Skillnaden i förändring mellan grupperna var heller ej signifikant med ett P-värde på 0,854. KONKLUSION: Arbetsminnet påverkades inte av 10 minuters fysisk aktivitet i någon av gruppjämförelserna. En individs syreupptagningsförmåga verkar heller inte påverka arbetsminnet. / BACKGROUND: Physical activity has been shown to have a positive effect on the areas of the brain connected to learning and memory. Even so, it is uncertain how much a person’s level of physical capacity influences these areas. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to examine if an intervention of physical activity could affect working memory, and whether a group of people perform differently during a working memory test after the intervention depending on their oxygen uptake. METHODS: The study had a quantitive and quasiexperimental design without control group. A group of 33 women, 20-30 years of age, conducted the test which consisted of the memory test Letter-number sequencing task before and after 10 minutes of submaximal ergometer cycling. During the intervention the individual’s maximal oxygen uptake was calculated with the Åstrand cycle ergometer test. Depending on the results from the cycle ergometer test, the testsubjects was split into two groups which represented high/very high (group 1) oxygen uptake and low/average (group 2) oxygen uptake. RESULTS: The median of LNS before the intervention was 20,5 for group 1 (n=20) and 21 for group 2 (n=13). This median improved with one unit for both groups at LNS after the intervention. The difference between the results within the groups before and after the intervention proved to be non-significant with a P-value of 0,614 for group 1 and 0,891 for group 2. The difference in change between the groups was neither significant with a P-value of 0,854. CONCLUSION: Working memory was not affected of 10 minutes of physical activity in neither of the comparison between the groups. It also seems that an individual’s oxygen uptake doesn’t affect working memory.

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No description available.

In order to perform their duties, airline pilots must have no clinical diagnosis of mental illness or any substance use disorder. However, provisions have been in place since the 1970s that provide for a return to work for airline pilots with alcohol problems. To date, over 5,000 airline pilots have undergone rehabilitation for Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) and successfully returned to work. An important gap in the literature remains with regard to what extent improvements in cognitive performance may be experienced by airline pilots who complete treatment and to what extent age influences the amount of change. This study examined the archival data of 95 male Caucasian pilots who were assessed for cognitive performance shortly after entry to 30-day inpatient treatment and approximately 5 months later during the return to work evaluation. A nonexperimental within subjects design compared pre- and post-treatment scores on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV (WAIS-IV) full scale and 4 index scores as well as differences for age groups (25 to 44, 45 to 54, and 55 to 64). Repeated measures ANOVA revealed that there were significant gains on all WAIS-IV measures pre-post treatment for AUD. MANOVA results indicated no differences between age groups. These findings support current Federal Aviation Administration program practices with regard to returning airline pilots to work following rehabilitation and a sufficient period of abstinence. The potential of this study to promote the agenda of social change may be substantive for raising awareness of the cognitive deficits associated with AUD and how these may impact the safety of flight operations.

Studien syftar till att undersöka hur den svenska versionen av WAIS-IV förhåller sig till sin föregångare WAIS-III. Samma försökspersoner testades vid två olika tillfällen med såväl WAIS-IV som WAIS-III för att undersöka om det förelåg skillnader mellan försökspersonernas testresultat från de två olika versionerna. Resultatet visade att det för hela gruppen försökspersoner förelåg signifikanta positiva och starka korrelationer mellan jämförda index och deltest, vilket tyder på att jämförda index och deltest mäter liknande kognitiva konstrukt. Avseende index; IK Hela skalan (HIK) förelåg i samtliga grupper, oavsett administrationsordningen för de två versionerna av skalorna, en signifikant högre genomsnittlig IK-poäng vid testning med WAIS-III jämfört med den genomsnittliga IK-poäng som erhölls vid testning med WAIS-IV. Denna differens kan tolkas som en konsekvens av Flynn-effektens påverkan på försökspersonernas genomsnittliga poängresultat.

The ceiling and basal rules of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV; Wechsler, 2008) only function as intended if subtest items proceed in order of difficulty. While many aspects of the WAIS-IV have been researched, there is no literature about subtest item difficulty and precise item difficulty values are not available. The WAIS-IV was developed within the framework of Classical Test Theory (CTT) and item difficulty was most often determined using p-values. One limitation of this method is that item difficulty values are sample dependent. Both standard error of measurement, an important indicator of reliability, and p-values change when the sample changes. A different framework within which psychological tests can be created, analyzed and refined is called Item Response Theory (IRT). IRT places items and person ability onto the same scale using linear transformations and links item difficulty level to person ability. As a result, IRT is said to be produce sample-independent statistics. Rasch modeling, a form of IRT, is one parameter logistic model that is appropriate for items with only two response options and assumes that the only factors affecting test performance are characteristics of items, such as their difficulty level or their relationship to the construct being measured by the test, and characteristics of participants, such as their ability levels. The partial credit model is similar to the standard dichotomous Rasch model, except that it is appropriate for items with more than two response options. Proponents of standard dichotomous Rasch model argue that it has distinct advantages above both CTT-based methods as well as other IRT models (Bond & Fox, 2007; Embretson & Reise, 2000; Furr & Bacharach, 2013; Hambleton & Jones, 1993) because of the principle of monotonicity, also referred to as specific objectivity, the principle of additivity or double cancellation, which “establishes that two parameters are additively related to a third variable” (Embretson & Reise, 2000, p. 148). In other words, because of the principle of monotonicity, in Rasch modeling, probability of correctly answering an item is the additive function of individuals’ ability, or trait level, and the item’s degree of difficulty. As ability increases, so does an individual’s probability of answering that item. Because only item difficulty and person ability affect an individual’s chance of correctly answering an item, inter-individual comparisons can be made even if individuals did not receive identical items or items of the same difficulty level. This is why Rasch modeling is referred to as a test-free measurement. The purpose of this study was to apply a standard dichotomous Rasch model or partial credit model to the individual items of seven core perceptual, verbal and working memory subtests of the WAIS-IV: Block Design, Matrix Reasoning, Visual Puzzles, Similarities, Vocabulary, Information, Arithmetic Digits Forward, Digits Backward and Digit Sequencing. Results revealed that WAIS-IV subtests fall into one of three categories: optimally ordered, near optimally ordered and sub-optimally ordered. Optimally ordered subtests, Digits Forward and Digits Backward, had no disordered items. Near optimally ordered subtests were those with one to three disordered items and included Digit Sequencing, Arithmetic, Similarities and Block Design. Sub-optimally ordered subtests consisted of Matrix Reasoning, Visual Puzzles, Information and Vocabulary, with the number of disordered items ranging from six to 16. Two major implications of the result of this study were considered: the impact on individuals’ scores and the impact on overall test administration time. While the number of disordered items ranged from 0 to 16, the overall impact on raw scores was deemed minimal. Because of where the disordered items occur in the subtest, most individuals are administered all the items that they would be expected to answer correctly. A one-point reduction in any one subtest is unlikely to significantly affect overall index scores, which are the scores most commonly interpreted in the WAIS-IV. However, if an individual received a one-point reduction across all subtests, this may have a more noticeable impact on index scores. In cases where individuals discontinue before having a chance to answer items that were easier, clinicians may consider testing the limits. While this would have no impact on raw scores, it may provide clinicians with a better understanding of individuals’ true abilities. Based on the findings of this study, clinicians may consider administering only certain items in order to test the limits, based on the items’ difficulty value. This study found that the start point for most subtests is too easy for most individuals. For some subtests, most individuals may be administered more than 10 items that are too easy for them. Other than increasing overall administration time, it is not clear what impact, of any, this has. However, it does suggest the need to reevaluate current start items so that they are the true basal for most people. Future studies should break standard test administration by ignoring basal and ceiling rules to collect data on more items. In order to help clarify why some items are more or less difficult than would be expected given their ordinal rank, future studies should include a qualitative aspect, where, after each subtest, individuals are asked describe what they found easy and difficult about each item. Finally, future research should examine the effects of item ordering on participant performance. While this study revealed that only minimal reductions in index scores likely result from the prematurely stopping test administration, it is not known if disordering has other impacts on performance, perhaps by increasing or decreasing an individual’s confidence.