A differential diagnosis between head injury and depression is critical to ensure proper treatment and appropriate interventions. Knowledge about this can only aid counseling psychologists' work with this population and, identifying a measure that can assist in this process is essential. The purpose of this study is to measure the utility of the Dean — Woodcock Neuropsychological Assessment System (D-WNAS) in distinguishing individuals with head injury from those who have a primary diagnosis of depression, and general neurological impairment. Participants included 433 adults (222 males, 211 females) between the ages 20-55 years of age (mean = 35.3 years, SD = 10.97 years) from the Midwestern United States. During the individual's treatment in the neuropsychological laboratory, each person was administered the following: the Dean-Woodcock Structured Interview (Dean & Woodcock, 1999), mental status exam, the Woodcock Johnson — Revised Tests of Cognitive Ability (WJ-R COG; Woodcock & Johnson, 1989b), the Woodcock Johnson — Revised Tests of Achievement (WJ-R ACH; Woodcock & Johnson, 1989a), and the Dean-Woodcock Sensory Motor Battery (DWSMB; Dean & Woodcock, 1999). This study indicates that responses to D-WNAS can be used to reliably classify adults into groups of depression, head injury, and general neuropsychological impairment. In particular, responses to the D-WSMB portion of the D-WNAS can be used to reliably classify adults into groups of depression, head injury, and general neuropsychological impairment. Classification results revealed that the original grouped cases were classified with 62.6 % (p < .001) accuracy and with 73.2% overall accuracy when the head injury and general neurological impairment groups were combined and compared to depression and normative groups. The WJ-R COG and WJ-R ACH were not as reliable as the D-WSMB at predicting group membership. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

The main purpose of the present study was to identify sensory-motor deficits caused by closed head injury (CHI) when individuals with CHI are compared to a normal sample. The study also investigated lower-level sensory-motor functioning, such as gait, balance, and coordination and its relation to neurological impairment related to CHI. Additionally, the study determined if age significantly influenced sensory-motor functioning.Archival data was utilized to complete the study. Data was collected from a large, Midwestern neurology clinic (CHI) as well as from a normative sample of individuals with no reported history of neurological impairment. Preliminary analyses were completed to identify outliers. Samples were then randomly selected from the impaired group (CHI) and matched with randomly selected subjects from the normative sample based upon age.Three separate analyses were completed. The first analysis focused on age and if age significantly influences sensory motor functioning. The second analysis was completed using an adult's only sample based upon the results that age significantly influenced sensory-motor performance. Finally, the third analysis utilized all age groups to determine how dramatically age had an impact on distinguishing between individuals with CHI versus a normative sample.Results demonstrated that age had a significant influence on sensory-motor performance. Measures of subcortical and cortical motor function, motor speed, motor coordination and tactile examination were able to accurately classify individuals with head injury from a normative sample to a clinically significant degree (78%). The study argues that the D-WSMB is a reliable and valid measure to utilize when evaluating individuals with CHI. / Department of Educational Psychology

Tests of sensory and motor function are widely used by clinicians and researchers in neurology, psychiatry, and neuropsychology. Less than perfect performance on many of these tests may be considered pathognomonic of central nervous system dysfunction. Unfortunately, differences across practitioners in specific test selection, administration procedures, and scoring criteria have resulted in inconsistencies which confound attempts to study the incidence and patterns of deficits (Adams & Victor, 1993; Glick, 1993). Although as a group psychologists favor standardized, quantitative instruments, the field has lacked a comprehensive, standardized sensory and motor battery. That psychologists have not developed such a battery may reflect the notion that pathognomonic signs are ambiguous and unstable (Buchanan & Heinrichs, 1989) and the fact that some traditional test development procedures are often inappropriate.For the Dean-Woodcock Sensory and Motor Battery, Dean and Woodcock (1994) selected measures representative of those included in the traditional neurological examination.Measures of subcortical function, unavailable in the major neuropsychological batteries, were included to allow differentiation with right hemisphere impairment.Using standard procedures for administration and scoring, this study gathered preliminary data regarding the incidence of pathognomonic signs in a normal adult population, identified items with difficulty levels likely to result in overidentification of abnormality, and estimated the interrater agreement and interrater reliability for items and tests most vulnerable to subjective interpretation. Data analysis reflected consideration of Franzen's (1989) argument that reliability can be better understood through use of multiple estimation strategies and Cicchetti's argument that data needs to be considered at "finer levels of molecular analysis" (p.621). In addition to investigating interrater agreement, this study applied generalizability theory which allows for simultaneous estimation of the relative proportion of variance contributed by multiple sources and their interactions.Results suggested adequate to excellent rater agreement and reliability (i.e., generalizability). Also, with minor modification of specific items, generalizability of items may be expected to increase. Future studies should sample from a more heterogenous general population and specific clinical populations. / Department of Educational Leadership

The present study investigated deaf children's performance on several modified tests of the original Halstead Reitan Neuropsychological Battery for Older Children (HRNB-C). Specifically, performance of 42 deaf children (mean age = 13.3 years, SD = 0.7 yrs.) and a matched sample of 42 hearing peers was examined on the HRNB-C Category, Tactual Performance, and Trail Making tests.In Study 1, a computerized version of the Category Test was administered. Step-down F tests were used to examine differences in total errors and the unique contribution of response time. In Study 2, the Tactual Performance and Trail Making scores were dependent variables. Logistic regression analysis was used to explore multivariate intergroup differences.The major finding of this research was that neuropsychological abilities of deaf children who have no additional handicapping conditions or impairments are, in general, similar to matched hearing controls. Few clinically relevant differences were found. No quantitative differences were found on Trail Making Part A or the total number of Category Test errors. Noteworthy, from a qualitative stance, was the role of response time and its unique contribution within the Category Test. Deaf subjects had significantly greater response times to individual items regardless of correctness of answer. Deaf children were also found to take longer on Trails B, although they performed within normals limits. With respect to the Tactual Performance Test (TPT), deaf children did slightly better than their matched hearing peers on TPT total time and location. In addition, Trails B and TPT location scores were the best multivariate composite of discriminators of deaf versus hearing performance. Notwithstanding, overinterpretation of statistical differences found in both studies was cautioned and the similarities of performance between deaf and hearing children emphasized.These findings offered information of deaf children's neuropsychological functioning compared to hearing controls in the clinical setting. Moreover, the results of the present study should be generalizable to other "non-impaired", 12-14 year old deaf children within a residential academic environment. / Department of Educational Psychology

The present research concerned the exploration of the psychometric properties of a psychologically based screening measure of competency for use in civil legal proceedings. Specifically, the measure was designed to assess a person’s competency before executing a will or other important legal document. In a series of investigations, expert feedback was utilized to formulate the final version of the measure, possible scoring criteria, and overall goodness of fit to the research question. Additionally, reliability and factor structure of the competency measure were explored. In a two-part study, expert feedback was sought using the Direct Consensus Method to determine final question inclusion for the measure, as well as to create a preliminary scoring system, which could be compared against a random sampling of participants obtained in the second part of the study. The experts (N=49) were members of one of two groups (N = 22 first feedback, N = 27 second feedback). Using the expert feedback the measure was presented to a randomized sample of individuals (N=109) who were given the measure and then scored based on the experts proposed methodology. Under the proposed method of scoring none of the randomized normals would have been misidentified as incompetent. Finally, exploratory factor analysis was conducted using both a 2 and 3 factor model. Results from this analysis were inconclusive. / Department of Educational Psychology

The present investigation considered the utility of traditional psychoeducational measures in the prediction of neuropsychological impairment in learning disabled children. The subjects were 368 learning disabled children ranging in age from 9 to 14, with a mean age of 10.68 years, and a standard deviation of 1.62. In addition to traditional psychoeducational measures, each subject was administered the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery for Older Children (HRNB-C). Subjects were considered impaired or nonimpaired on the basis of their score on the HRNB-C. A Discriminant Analysis was utilized to investigate what variables from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R), Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised (WRAT-R) and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) would be used to predict the subjects' neuropsychological status. It was found that 12 variables added significantly (R < .05) to the prediction of impairment, with Arithmetic and Block Design subtests the most prominent predictors. A Regression Analysis was used to consider the subjects' score on the HRNB-C in a continous fashion. The regression equation that emerged showed the Performance Scale of the WISC-R to be the best predictor of the impairment index.MANOVA and ANOVA statistics were used to investigate the differences between the groups. Results indicated that there was a significant main effect for gender. Males tended to score higher than females on visual spatial tasks. General cognitive skills were lower in females than males. Overall, females tended to be more neuropsychologically impaired than males. / Department of Educational Psychology

Access to abstract permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Educational Psychology

One in nine North American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime and most will receive chemotherapy as part of their treatment. Although advances in treatment have increased survivorship, some research suggests chemotherapy results in cognitive deficits in a subset of recipients, a condition known as chemo-fog, thereby compromising quality of life. However, inconsistencies in methodology and neuropsychological assessment have complicated comparison of findings. The first objective of this thesis was to review the methodological issues with an emphasis on the quantitative techniques typically employed. A comparison of group and individual based analyses found negligible effects for both univariate and multivariate approaches while individual based analyses identified severe declines in function in a subset of participants. A standardized-regression based (SRB) approach was recommended as the method of choice. Furthermore, it was recommended that the number of tests be limited since comprehensive batteries can complicate identification due to increased risk of misclassification. Therefore, the second goal of the thesis was to evaluate the sensitivity of a reduced battery to the declines associated with chemo-fog. A comprehensive neuropsychological battery comprising 23 tests was compared to a subset of nine tests. SRB analyses demonstrated that a more selective battery was equally useful and may be appropriate for identification of chemo-fog. Given the variability in the composition of neuropsychological test batteries, the final aim of this thesis was to compare the structure of the theoretical cognitive domains with ones identified through exploratory factor analyses (principle axis factoring) to evaluate the convergence between the two. The results demonstrated there is statistical support for the conceptual framework that underlies the composition of the domains. The contributions of this thesis include providing methodological guidelines for those conducting future research in this area to ensure that results are comparable across studies and are meaningful, and evaluating the utility of a screening battery to facilitate identification of chemo-fog. In addition, it was demonstrated that despite the lack of professional guidelines informing the selection and construction of neuropsychological test batteries, there is statistical evidence to support the practice of grouping tests into domains based on theoretical grounds.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Linköping : Univ., 2001. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2003. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.