The aim of this work is to introduce a new assessment method of children's cognitive abilities, the Cognitive Assessment System 2, to examine its criterion concurrent validity in a population of children with special educational needs and analyze the test profiles of these children. In the theoretical part of the work various assessment tools of children's cognitive abilities are presented. The Cognitive Assessment System 2 is also introduced. In the empirical part concurrent criterion validity of the CAS2 is examined via the correlation between the results of CAS2 and the results of other commonly used intelligence tests - it is examined on a sample of children with specific learning disabilities and children with below- average intelligence or mental retardation. The test profiles of children from both groups are analyzed. It was found that the overall scores in the method CAS2 highly correlate with total scores of the WISC-III in a group of children with a below-average intelligence and mental retardation, and with total scores of the WISC-III or the K-ABC in a group of children with specific learning disabilities. This is considered as evidence of the concurrent criterion validity of the CAS2. It was found that the children with a below-average intellect and mental retardation have balanced...

This study presented the past, current, and proposed practice of intelligence testing with a unique population, students identified as deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH). As a basis for describing the cognitive ability of Utah's D/HH students and to improve practice guidelines, 61 D/HH students served by Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (USDB) were administered the Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test (UNIT) standard battery and the Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI) subtests from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV). Based on these data, composite score distributions were described and compared with national standardization samples. Participants' WISC-IV PRI scores are summarized with the following descriptive statistics: M = 88.95, 11.05 points below the standardization sample's mean; SD = 14.55; skew = -.74; and SE = .31. Comparing the USDB D/HH sample's WISC-IV PRI scores with the WISC-IV standardization sample's distribution of scores, the participants' scores were significantly lower (two-tailed p-value of <.0001). Participants' UNIT Standard Battery Composite scores are summarized with the following descriptive statistics: M = 90.74, 9.26 points less than the standardization sample's mean; SD = 13.97; skew = -.55; and SE = .31. Comparing this sample's UNIT composite scores with the standardization sample, the participants' scores were significantly lower (two-tailed p-value of <.0001). Additionally, a Pearson correlation compared each participant's scores on the WISC-IV PRI with the corresponding score on the UNIT Standard Battery Composite, yielding a correlation coefficient of .75 with a two-tailed p-value < .0001. Recommendations for future guidelines regarding cognitive assessment of Utah's D/HH students are presented. In particular, this research supported administering the UNIT rather than the WISC-IV. Though no assessment is language free, the UNIT's administration uses simple gestures for directions, rather than spoken language. Additionally, D/HH students were included in the standardization sample. Furthermore, administering one assessment, rather than several, consumes less time for the examiner and the student, saving money and decreasing student time away from classroom instruction.

The simultaneous and successive cognitive processes of students with and without LD were investigated. 51 middle school students with and without learning disabilities in grades 7 and 8 were selected for the study. Based on reading performance on the WIAT-II reading decoding subtest, students were assigned to one of three research groups: Learning disabilities (LDB), students without learning disabilities who are below average readers (NLDB), and students without learning disabilities who are average readers (NLDA). The Das-Naglieri Cognitive Assessment System (DNCAS) was administered to all students to determine simultaneous and successive processing proficiency. Independent samples t-tests were conducted to determine processing differences between LDB and NLDA; LDB and NLDB; and NLDB and NLDA. Significant simultaneous and successive cognitive processing differences between LDB and NLDB were not found. These results appear consistent with the existing literature, and call into question the effectiveness of the current definition of LD to discriminate between LD and non-LD students.

Text in Afrikaans / Hierdie studie ondersoek die moontlikheid dat aandagtekort versteuring met hiperaktiwiteit(ATHV/H) verband hou met probleme met voortgesette aandag, terwyl aandagtekort versteuring sander hiperaktiwiteit(ATHV/SO) verband hou met probleme met gefokusde aandag. Neurosielkundige toetse waarmee voortgesette- en gefokusde aandag gemeet word, word gebruik om drie groepe, naamlik ATHV/H(n=24), ATHV/SO(n=l5) en 'n kontrole groep(n=21), met mekaar te vergelyk. Resul tate dui daarop dat die groep ATHV/SO beduidend swakker presteer as die ander twee groepe op sommige van die toetse van gefokusde aandag, en ook neig om swakker te presteer op die toets van voortgesette aandag. Die groep ATHV/SO se probleme blyk gekoppel te wees aan 'n stadiger spoed van kognitiewe prosessering en 'n toestand van hipoopwekking. Die groep ATHV/H presteer nie beduidend swakker as die ander twee groepe op die toets van voortgesette aandag nie, maar presteer wel swakker as die kontrole groep op die Stroop Colour-Word Test waar inhibisie van ontoepaslike response vereis word. Die groep ATHV /H se probleme blyk verband te hou met frontale disfunksie wat manifesteer as 'n neighing tot impulsiwiteit en gebrekkige gedragsregulering. / This study examined the possibility that attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity(ADHD/H) is related to problems with sustained attention, while attention deficit disorder without hyperactivity (ADHD/WO) is related to problems with focussed attention. The performance of three groups: ADHD/H (n=24), ADHD/WO(n=15) and a control group(n=21) were compared. Results indicated that the ADHD/WO group performed significantly poorer than the other two groups on some of the tests of focussed attention and also tended to perform poorer on the test assessing sustained attention. This groups' symtoms appear to be related to a slowed speed of processing and a state of hypo-arousal. The ADHD/H group did not perform poorer than the other two groups on the test assessing sustained attention. The ADHD/H groups' symptoms appear to be related to frontal dysfunction resulting in impulsivity and poor behavioural control. / Psychology / M.A. (Sielkunde)

This thesis deals with the neuropsychological diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. The aim is to evaluate the psychometric characteristics ofthe new Czech translation of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) by comparison with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), a method widely used by doctors inscreening diagnostics of Alzheimer's disease. The theoretical part deals with the diagnostics of Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment. We describe international diagnostic criteria of cognitive disorders and provide an overview of the screening neuropsychological methods most commonly used by Czech specialists. We summarize the current psychometric and psychodiagnostic findings on these methods and focuse on description of MMSE and MoCA. In the empirical part we compare Czech version of MMSE and MoCA-CZ (the new Czech translation of the test). We examined 38 patients with Alzheimer's disease and 70 cognitively healthy seniors. The results show that MoCA-CZ is sufficiently valid and reliable screening method that accurately distinguishbetween healthy subjects and patiens with Alzheimer's disease. We believe that it can enrich screening tools that are available to Czech experts. Key words: Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Mini-Mental State Examination, Alzheimer's disease, psychodiagnostics,...

The thesis discusses screening psychodiagnostics with special attention given to amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. The theoretical part describes the concepts of healthy aging and the disorders of cognitive functions. It provides an overview of the screening methods most frequently used in the Czech Republic and the description of MoCA test. It also briefly outlines the issues of retesting in psychodiagnostics. The objective of the empirical part of the work was to verify the psychometric characteristics of the Czech alternative version MoCA-CZ and to evaluate whether it is possible to use this test in practice. The evaluation also includes a comparison of the new version with the already established standard version of MoCA-CZ test. We assigned standard and alternative versions of MoCA-CZ in a 2-month interval to 59 healthy volunteers, 35 patients with mild cognitive impairment and 41 patients with dementia resulting from Alzheimer's disease. We found a strong correlation between alternative and standard version of MoCA-CZ test. We confirmed statistically significant differences in the average scores between individual research groups in both versions of the test. We proved that the alternative version MoCA-CZ 2 is reliable. And we demonstrated that the administration and...

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-04T18:29:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dalva Alice Rocha Mol.pdf: 3149572 bytes, checksum: f806553a69f59c46eb1df3caf215be1e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-05-18 / The assessment of cognitive abilities of children who have learning disabilities (slow learners) is a major topic in psychology research. This doctorate thesis investigates the cognitive abilities of schoolchildren who have difficulty learning. Two different groups of informants were analyzed. The first group comprised 60 7- and 8-year-old schoolchildren of both genders 30 slow learners and 30 fast learners from two state schools in the State of S?o Paulo, Brazil. The second group comprised 8 primary school teachers also from two state schools in the State of S?o Paulo. We used Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ-III) composed of 10 tests, a questionnaire filled out by the teachers and an analysis of the pupils marks in Portuguese, Math and Science. The results from the Multivariate and Univariate Analysis of Variance showed significant differences between the group of slow learners and the group of fast learners. The Pearson Assessments showed the children s performance improved as they moved to higher grades. The children s marks were consistent with the results from the WJ-III. Therefore we concluded that the cognitive abilities are significantly different between fast and slow learners and that WJ-III can be used to analyze learning disabilities. / A avalia??o das habilidades cognitivas de crian?as que apresentam dificuldades de aprendizagem constitui-se um importante campo de investiga??o psicol?gica. Este estudo objetivou investigar as habilidades cognitivas de crian?as com e sem dificuldades de aprendizagem pela Bateria Woodcock-Johnson. Duas amostras foram compostas: a primeira amostra por 60 crian?as de ambos os sexos, sendo 30 participantes sem indica??o de dificuldades de aprendizagem e 30 com indica??o de dificuldades de aprendizagem, que freq?entavam a primeira e segunda s?rie do Ensino Fundamental de duas escolas p?blicas do interior do estado de S?o Paulo. A segunda amostra foi composta por oito professores de primeira e segunda s?ries de duas escolas p?blicas do interior do estado de S?o Paulo. Utilizou-se a Bateria de habilidades cognitivas Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ III), composta por 10 testes, um question?rio escolar preenchido pelos professores e as notas escolares obtidas em Portugu?s, Matem?tica e Ci?ncias. As An?lises da Vari?ncia Multivariada e Univariada apontaram os efeitos significativos no tipo de grupo e de s?rie escolar das habilidades cognitivas avaliadas pela WJ III. A correla??o de Pearson mostrou a rela??o entre as habilidades cognitivas e os indicadores de dificuldades de aprendizagem, apontados pelo professor, sobre as crian?as com e sem dificuldades de aprendizagem. As notas escolares tamb?m se associaram significativamente aos resultados da WJ III. Desta forma, concluiu-se que existem diferen?as significativas nas habilidades cognitivas entre crian?as com dificuldades e crian?as sem dificuldades de aprendizagem, e que a WJ III ? uma medida v?lida para avaliar tais dificuldades.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-04T18:29:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcelo Gulini Chiodi.pdf: 2654186 bytes, checksum: 8afcc46d0d34b2195ce3af9b190696ab (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-28 / Pontif?cia Universidade Cat?lica de Campinas / The study on how the different intellectual abilities interact and operate has always aroused man's curiosity due to his need to explain individual differences in the use of information. In this sense, this paper aims to adapt and validate the ten subtests that make up the extended version of the Woodcock-Johnson III Cognitive Abilities Battery (WJ-III Extended) taking into account the Brazilian reality. To this end, we developed four different studies: 1 - Adaptation of the battery (translation, creation and adaptation of items to the Brazilian reality); 2 - Convergent validation by comparing the results of the WJ-III Standard Battery with the Extended version; 3 and 4 - Validation of convergent criteria by comparing the results of two clinical groups, i.e., children diagnosed with Benign Childhood Epilepsy with Centrotemporal Spikes (BCECS) and children diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). To perform study 2, convergent validation, we evaluated 70 public primary and secondary school children, 43 male and 27 female, aged between 7 and 12. The obtained results were analyzed using Pearson's correlation and a Variance Analysis regarding sex and age of each instrument. Significant correlations were found between the total scores of the expanded WJ-III version and total scores of the standard WJ-III version (0.80), as well as between the subtests which assess Crystallized Intelligence (Gc) of both the expanded and the standard WJ-III (Gc) (0.77). Significant correlations were also observed when we compared the subtests used to assess other skills of both versions of the WJ-III battery (0.73). The Age variable differed significantly in both the expanded and the standard version, whereas the influence of the Sex X Age variable was only significant in the WJ-III standard version. To perform studies 3 and 4 that validated convergent criteria, we analyzed 21 children diagnosed with BCECS and 20 children diagnosed with ADHD aged between 7 and 12 of both sexes. The two clinical groups were matched with children without neurological disorders of the same age and sex. Information obtained in the tests was analyzed by means of a Variance Analysis for group, sex and age. The results of study 3 showed a lower performance of all evaluated skills in the BCECS group compared to the performance of children without neurological disorders. Regarding Study 4, the ADHD children group also showed lower performance in all skills when compared to the control group. Those data demonstrate the convergent validity between the Extended WJ-III and the Standard WJ-III, as well as the convergent criteria validity by differentiating two clinical groups. This could contribute to a more detailed diagnosis of the different cognitive abilities and widen the range of instruments used for intellectual evaluation. / O estudo da intera??o e funcionamento das diferentes habilidades intelectuais sempre despertou curiosidade devido ? necessidade do ser humano de esclarecer as diferen?as individuais no uso das informa??es. Neste sentido, o presente trabalho prop?s a adaptar e validar, para a realidade brasileira, os dez subtestes que comp?em a vers?o Ampliada da Bateria de Habilidades Cognitivas Woodcock-Johnson III (WJ-III Ampliada). Para a realiza??o deste projeto foram desenvolvidos 4 diferentes estudos: 1- adapta??o da bateria (tradu??o, cria??o e adapta??o de itens para a realidade brasileira); 2- validade convergente, comparando os resultados da bateria WJ-III Padr?o com a Ampliada; 3 e 4 - validade de crit?rio tipo concorrente, comparando os resultados de dois grupos cl?nicos, crian?as diagnosticadas com Epilepsia Benigna da Inf?ncia com Pontas centro-temporais (EBICT) e crian?as com o diagn?stico de Transtorno do D?ficit de Aten??o e Hiperatividade (TDAH). Para o estudo 2 de validade convergente, foram avaliadas 70 crian?as de escola p?blica do Ensino Fundamental e M?dio, sendo 43 do sexo masculino e 27 do sexo feminino, com faixa et?ria entre 7 e 12 anos. Os resultados obtidos foram analisados segundo a correla??o de Pearson e An?lise da Vari?ncia entre sexo e idade para cada instrumento. Foram encontradas correla??es significativas entre as pontua??es totais da WJ-III Ampliada e as pontua??es totais na WJ-III vers?o Padr?o de (0,80), assim como, entre os subtestes que avaliam Intelig?ncia Cristalizada (Gc) da WJ-III Ampliada com a WJ-III Padr?o (Gc) (0,77). Tamb?m foram observadas correla??es significativas quando relacionados os subtestes que avaliam as demais habilidades de ambas as vers?es da Bateria WJ-III (0,73). Houve diferen?a significativa para a vari?vel Idade tanto na vers?o Ampliada quanto na vers?o Padr?o. J? a influ?ncia da vari?vel Sexo X Idade foi significativa apenas na vers?o Padr?o da WJ-III. Com rela??o aos estudos 3 e 4 de validade de crit?rio do tipo concorrente, foram estudadas 21 crian?as diagnosticadas com EBICT e 20 diagnosticadas com TDAH, com faixa et?ria entre 7 e 12 anos e de ambos os sexos. Os dois grupos cl?nicos foram pareados por crian?as de mesma idade, sexo e diagnosticadas sem dist?rbios neurol?gicos. As informa??es obtidas nos testes foram analisadas segundo a An?lise de Vari?ncia entre grupo, sexo e idade. Os resultados do estudo 3 apontaram para um desempenho inferior em todas as habilidades avaliadas no grupo EBICT em compara??o ao desempenho de crian?as diagnosticadas sem dist?rbios neurol?gicos. No estudo 4 o grupo de crian?as diagnosticadas com TDAH tamb?m apresentou desempenho inferior em todas as habilidades ao comparar com o desempenho do grupo controle. Portanto, tais dados indicam que a Bateria WJ-III vers?o Ampliada possui validade convergente com a WJ-III vers?o Padr?o e validade de crit?rio tipo concorrente ao diferenciar dois grupos cl?nicos, podendo assim contribuir para um diagn?stico mais detalhado das v?rias habilidades cognitivas e enriquecer ainda mais as possibilidades de instrumentos para avalia??o intelectual.

Until recently, there was no dementia screening tool for Indigenous Australians and a paucity of information on the extent of dementia in Indigenous Australians. This thesis describes the development and validation of a tool to assess cognitive impairment in remote Indigenous Australians with the primary purpose of determining the prevalence of dementia and other associated conditions in this population. The tool was reevaluated with the larger prevalence sample and a short version of the tool was developed and evaluated. The Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment (KICA) tool was validated with Indigenous Australians aged over 45 years from the Kimberley region of Western Australia (n=70). The results were later confirmed in a larger sample from the remote Kimberley (n=363), and an additional sample in rural and remote areas of the Northern Territory (n=47). The KICA results were compared to independent consensus diagnoses using DSM-IV and ICD-10. Interpreters were used whenever participants were not proficient in English. These data led to the determination of a cut-off score of 33/34 out of a possible total score of 39 for the cognitive component of the KICA (KICA-Cog), with a sensitivity of 0.93 and specificity of 0.95 and AUC of 0.98. The tool is now widely used within remote areas of Australia. A short version of the KICACog (sKICA-Cog) was developed and found to be a valid brief screening tool for dementia in the Kimberley population, and had a cut-off score of 20/21 out of a possible 25, with a sensitivity of 0.89, specificity of 0.95 and AUC of 0.98. The sKICA-Cog should be used in combination with the KICA cognitive informant questionnaire (KICA-IQ). The KICA-IQ cut-off score of 2/3 out of a possible 16 was determined, with a sensitivity of 0.76 and specificity of 0.84 and AUC of 0.91. Using the validated KICA, the prevalence of dementia and cognitive impairment not dementia (CIND) was determined in a semi-purposive sample consisting of 363 Indigenous Australians aged over 45 years from 6 Aboriginal communities and one town in the Kimberley region. Participants were screened with the full KICA and 165 participants had an independent specialist review with consensus diagnoses. The prevalence of dementia was 12.4%, 5.2 times greater than the Australian prevalence of 2.4%, after age adjustment. The prevalence of CIND was 8.0%. Characteristics associated with dementia included older age, male gender (OR 3.1, 95% CI 1.4, 6.8), no formal education (OR 2.7, 95% CI 1.1, 6.7), smoking (OR 4.5, 95% CI 1.1, 18.6), previous stroke (OR 17.9, 95% CI 5.9, 49.7), epilepsy (OR 33.5, 95% CI 4.8, 232.3) and head injury (OR 4.0, 95% CI 1.7, 9.4). Other factors associated with dementia included incontinence, falls and poor mobility. The KICA is a valid assessment tool for rural and remote Indigenous Australians. The prevalence of dementia amongst Indigenous Australians is substantially higher than generally found in non - Indigenous Australians and other populations in the developed and developing world.

Text in Afrikaans / Hierdie studie ondersoek die moontlikheid dat aandagtekort versteuring met hiperaktiwiteit(ATHV/H) verband hou met probleme met voortgesette aandag, terwyl aandagtekort versteuring sander hiperaktiwiteit(ATHV/SO) verband hou met probleme met gefokusde aandag. Neurosielkundige toetse waarmee voortgesette- en gefokusde aandag gemeet word, word gebruik om drie groepe, naamlik ATHV/H(n=24), ATHV/SO(n=l5) en 'n kontrole groep(n=21), met mekaar te vergelyk. Resul tate dui daarop dat die groep ATHV/SO beduidend swakker presteer as die ander twee groepe op sommige van die toetse van gefokusde aandag, en ook neig om swakker te presteer op die toets van voortgesette aandag. Die groep ATHV/SO se probleme blyk gekoppel te wees aan 'n stadiger spoed van kognitiewe prosessering en 'n toestand van hipoopwekking. Die groep ATHV/H presteer nie beduidend swakker as die ander twee groepe op die toets van voortgesette aandag nie, maar presteer wel swakker as die kontrole groep op die Stroop Colour-Word Test waar inhibisie van ontoepaslike response vereis word. Die groep ATHV /H se probleme blyk verband te hou met frontale disfunksie wat manifesteer as 'n neighing tot impulsiwiteit en gebrekkige gedragsregulering. / This study examined the possibility that attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity(ADHD/H) is related to problems with sustained attention, while attention deficit disorder without hyperactivity (ADHD/WO) is related to problems with focussed attention. The performance of three groups: ADHD/H (n=24), ADHD/WO(n=15) and a control group(n=21) were compared. Results indicated that the ADHD/WO group performed significantly poorer than the other two groups on some of the tests of focussed attention and also tended to perform poorer on the test assessing sustained attention. This groups' symtoms appear to be related to a slowed speed of processing and a state of hypo-arousal. The ADHD/H group did not perform poorer than the other two groups on the test assessing sustained attention. The ADHD/H groups' symptoms appear to be related to frontal dysfunction resulting in impulsivity and poor behavioural control. / Psychology / M.A. (Sielkunde)