Inference in Right Hemisphere Damaged Individuals' Comprehension: The Role of Sustained Attention

Autor/inn/en	Saldert, Charlotta; Ahlsen, Elisabeth
Titel	Inference in Right Hemisphere Damaged Individuals' Comprehension: The Role of Sustained Attention
Quelle	In: Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 21 (2007) 8, S.637-655 (19 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0269-9206
Schlagwörter	Patients; Memory; Inferences; Correlation; Brain Hemisphere Functions; Reading Comprehension; Injuries; Attention Span; Comparative Analysis; Neurological Impairments; Foreign Countries; Verbal Stimuli; Sweden + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Patient; Gedächtnis; Inference; Inferenz; Korrelation; Leseverstehen; Neurodegenerative Erkrankung; Ausland; Schweden
Abstract	The ability to make inferences for the purposes of comprehension is considered an important factor in pragmatic ability. In this experimental group study with stroke patients, the ability to make inferences and its associations with sustained attention and verbal working memory were explored. A group of 14 left-hemisphere-damaged individuals had more difficulty with tasks requiring the ability to revise inferences than a matched control group. Their results on those tasks tended to be associated with verbal working memory capacity. A group of 14 right-hemisphere-damaged (RHD) individuals also had problems in revising inferences, but their results were associated with sustained attention. In addition, the RHD subjects had problems in making inferences about characters' attitudes or motives. A lack of significant differences in results on tasks between the groups of brain damaged individuals indicate that comprehension of complex information might be impaired post stroke, irrespectively of whether the damage is to the left or right hemisphere. The results suggest that sustained attention, whilst not being a solitary sufficient factor, might somehow be involved in comprehension problems related to RHD. Implications for further research and clinical management of these sometimes subtle problems are discussed. The following are appended: (1) Examples of narratives; and (2) Examples of assessment scheme for Discourse comprehension. (Contains 4 tables and 1 note.) (Author).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10