Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of death and disability among children and adolescents in the US. Children and adolescents who sustain moderate and severe head injuries are much more likely to evidence significant deficits in neuropsychological functioning when compared with children with mild head injuries. Information about the recovery process and functional sequelae associated with moderate and severe head injuries remains limited, despite clear indications that children who experience such injuries typically exhibit notable deficits in intellectual functioning, particularly during the acute phase of recovery. Thus, the present study was conducted to augment research on intellectual functioning in children with moderate or severe head injuries. To accomplish this, the study first examined the proposed factor model of the WISC-III in children with moderate and severe TBI. Given high prevalence rates and similar trends in cognitive impairment, particularly within the frontal lobe structures (e.g., disrupted cognitive flexibility and divided attention), the study also examined this same factor model for a group of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and compared it with the model fit from the TBI group. In the second phase of the study, both the TBI and AHDH groups were evaluated to determine if distinct WISC-III index score cluster profiles could be identified. Lastly, the cluster groups for both the TBI and ADHD samples were validated using important demographic and clinical variables, as well as scores from independent neuropsychological measures of attention, executive functioning, and working memory. Parent reports of psychological and behavioral functioning were also used in an attempt to further distinguish the cluster groups. Study limitations and future research implications were also discussed.

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VISUAL MEMORY AS A DETERMINANT OF COMMUNICATIVE AND LEARNING COMPETENCIES IN PUPILS WITH HEARING IMPAIRMENT ABSTRACT: This submitted work concentrates on visual perception, especially on visual memory and related attention in children and pupils with hearing impairment, which from the theoretical point of view represents the most important compensatory sense for this group of people. The main part of the submitted paper consists in presenting the results of a research survey observing the levels of visual perception and attention in children and pupils in the age group 6 to 8 years old, as well as on comparing them with results achieved by a group of hearing children and pupils of the same age range. We chose four subtests focused on the current state of visual memory and attention. These subtests constitute a part of two standardized tests. The following analysis of the gained data was used to validate our hypotheses regarding the influence of the compensatory mechanism applied when processing visual inputs by people with hearing impairment existing on the level of the central nervous system. Furthermore, the paper provides processed and commented data gained from questionnaires destined for teachers. These questionnaires pursue the evaluation of communicative and learning competencies of the tested study...