RESUMEN
This study compared the effectiveness of two reading treatment programmes for two contrasting developmental dyslexics. W.B. demonstrated "pure" phonological dyslexia (deficient nonword reading but normal irregular-word reading) and N.S. "pure" surface dyslexia (the converse pattern). Both participants completed: (a) a phonological programme, which targeted the sublexical reading procedure through repeated exposure to word "families" with the same grapheme-phoneme correspondence (GPC; e.g., frail, raid, bait); and (b) a whole-word programme, which targeted the lexical reading procedure through tasks that emphasize whole-word visual analysis (e.g., speeded identification of visually degraded words). Both participants improved after training on the targeted words and/or GPCs. However, W.B. demonstrated reliable generalization only following the phonological programme and only in his reading of nonwords. In contrast, N.S. showed generalization across all types of word materials following both programmes. Although the whole-word programme (in particular the degraded-images technique) resulted in numerically greater improvement for N.S., this difference was not significant. Practical and theoretical implications of these results are discussed.
Asunto(s)
Dislexia/terapia , Fonética , Educación Compensatoria/métodos , Semántica , Atención , Niño , Señales (Psicología) , Dislexia/diagnóstico , Dislexia/psicología , Femenino , Generalización Psicológica , Humanos , Masculino , Tamizaje Masivo , Recuerdo Mental , Pruebas Neuropsicológicas , Nueva Zelanda , Reconocimiento Visual de Modelos , Enmascaramiento Perceptual , Grupos de Población , Psicolingüística , Tiempo de Reacción , Retención en Psicología , Resultado del Tratamiento , Aprendizaje Verbal , VocabularioRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: This study presents two experiments that investigated whether children with autism were susceptible to the Thatcher illusion. Perception of the Thatcher illusion requires being able to compute second-order configural relations for facial stimuli. METHOD: In both experiments children with autism were matched for non-verbal and verbal ability with a group of children with moderate (non-specific) mental retardation (MLD) and a group of typically developing children respectively. Participants were asked to detect the 'unusual' face in a two-alternative-forced-choice version of the Margaret Thatcher illusion with grey-scale (Experiment 1) and monochrome 'Mooney' face images (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1 participants also performed a control task where buildings had been doctored in the same way as the facial stimuli. RESULTS: Children with autism were as susceptible to the Thatcher illusion as both control groups, in terms of accuracy and reaction time to make decisions about which face was unusual. Children with autism performed more accurately than children with MLD in the buildings task. CONCLUSION: Children with autism are able to compute second-order configural features in faces and exhibit no difference in face processing, relative to appropriate control groups.
Asunto(s)
Trastorno Autístico/complicaciones , Trastorno Autístico/fisiopatología , Cara , Ilusiones Ópticas , Reconocimiento en Psicología , Niño , Toma de Decisiones , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Percepción VisualRESUMEN
Dissociation comprises a range of psychological processes, which have largely been the subject of psychodynamic discussion. Dissociative phenomena are for the most part unaddressed by cognitive theorists. Current measures are atheoretical and our understanding of dissociation has been hampered by the absence of clear psychological models. This paper describes a new cognitive model of dissociation and the development and validation of a theoretically based measure-the Wessex Dissociation Scale (WDS). The WDS has adequate internal consistency, shows convergent validity with the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES-II), and is equivalent to the DES-II in its associations with severe psychopathology. However, the WDS has some advantages over the DES-II, in that it is sensitive to milder manifestations of dissociation, demonstrating links to less severe pathologies. The findings described here provide preliminary support for the usefulness of the cognitive model, and the varied consequences of dissociative processes. The clinical and research utility of the model and the scale are discussed.