This study investigated the differences between right and left hemisphere brain damaged (BD) patients and controls in response to verbal and spatial-affective stimuli. The three null hypotheses explored in this study were: (a) Right hemisphere BD patients would not display significantly different arousal levels from controls in response to verbal and spatial-affective stimuli, (b) left hemisphere BD patients would not display significantly different arousal levels from controls in response to verbal and spatial-affective stimuli, and (c) left hemisphere BD patients would not display significantly different arousal levels from right hemisphere BD patients in response to verbal and spatial-affective stimuli. A One-Way Analysis of Variance was used to determine if differences in arousal existed between right and left hemisphere BD patients and controls. Planned comparisons (t-tests) were used in analyzing the hypotheses.A total of 48 subjects was used in this study. Experimental subjects were composed of 16 left and 16 right hemisphere BD patients from Community Hospital, Indianapolis, Indiana. Sixteen control subjects were obtained from the community of Muncie, Indiana. All subjects were volunteers. No significant differences were found between right and left hemisphere BD patients and controls with respect to age, education, and post injury.The instruments used in this study were a J & J electrodermal unit, the Affective Behavior Test, and the Comprehension subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised. All tests were individually administered while GSR recordings were obtained. Administration, scoring, computer analyses, and interpretation was completed between May 1982 and February 1984.All three null hypotheses were rejected. Right and left hemisphere BD patients' arousal levels in response to affective stimuli were significantly different from those of controls (p <.001). These results suggested that arousal levels in right and left hemisphere BD patients were lower than non-brain damaged individuals. Additionally, right hemisphere BD patients were found to have significantly lower arousal levels than left hemisphere BD patients (p<.01). In light of these findings, it was recommended that future research explore the value of increasing arousal levels for cerebrovascular accident patients in the rehabilitative process.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/180494 |
| Date | January 1984 |
| Creators | Schmidt, Mary Kathryn Schwinden |
| Contributors | Baumann, Karen S. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | 3, v, 68 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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