Advances in Cognitive Sciences
Year:2008 | Volume:10 | Issue:1 (37)|Papers Count:9

Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop and validate the Dyscalculia Diagnostic Test for third grade primary school children of Isfahan, Iran. Method: In this survey the content of primary third grade math book was analyzed. Keripendorf's coefficient was calculated based on consistency of content analysis to be 0.91. In the next step, based on the obtained categories and the behavioral objectives of each category and considering Bloom's Cognitive Theory and the size of each category in the math book of third grade, several questions were designed and implemented in a pilot study. Thereafter, the final form was administered to 300 students (155 boys and 145 girls) who were selected in the academic year 85-86 using multi-level cluster sampling from five educational areas of Isfahan. Item and test parameters were assessed based on Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT). Results: The results showed that the test had desirable validity and reliability (a=0.92 and test-retest coefficient=0.87) and the specificity and sensitivity of the test were assessed to be 98 and 96 percent respectively. Discrimination Parameter a(g) and difficulty b(g) based on item - response theory also showed that all questions had desirable discriminatory power (over 0.5), and acceptable difficulty and had complete fitness with the two factor model (p>0.05). The graph of the awareness function of the test also indicated that its most appropriate application is in math ability levels of R= -0.6 to R= +0.6.Conclusion: This test has appropriate psychometric properties for the diagnosis of third grade schoolchildren with dyscalculia.

Objective: This study was carried out to examine some aspects of fluency in individuals with schizophrenia and to compare them with normal subjects, aiming at presenting stable symptoms of language and speech disorders and their severity; to provide more precise language-speech tests and to identify pathological aspects of speech and language. Method: In this cross sectional-analytic study, two groups of 22 individuals with schizophrenia and normal subjects (17 males and 5 females in each group) were interviewed using the spontaneous speech part of Persian Aphasia Test. All answers were analyzed with respect to speech fluency characteristics (filled and unfilled pauses, aberrant repetitions and percentage of spontaneous corrections). Data were analyzed using SPSS 11.5. Results: The normal and patient groups did not differ in the mean percentage of filled and unfilled pauses. But the mean percentage of aberrant repetition and spontaneous correction (p=0.001 and p<0.001 respectively) were significantly different. In discriminating subtests for filled and unfilled pauses, regarding grammatical and semantic borders, significant statistical difference was only seen in the group with schizophrenia. In patients, the percentage of filled pause before semantic morphemes in relation to grammatical morphemes (p<0.01), the percentage of filled pauses in the beginning of the sentence before conceptual morphemes relative to grammatical morphemes (p<0.05), and the percentage of unfilled pauses in the beginning and the middle of sentence and also before one conceptual morpheme relative to grammatical morpheme (p<0.001) were significant. Conclusion: The small sample size and the use of factors dependent on texture might account for the lack of significant difference in factors such as pause. However, the presence of significant differences in factors relatively independent from the effects of texture (e.g. aberrant repetition), could support other researchers' results indicating impairment of language fluency in individuals with schizophrenia and a possible neurological pathology.

Objective: Phonological awareness is a part of linguistic knowledge and has a direct and significant relationship with literacy and reading and writing. Phonological awareness includes syllable awareness, intra-syllabic awareness and phoneme awareness. Research on a variety of languages shows a relationship between phonological awareness and spelling. The aim of the present study was to examine this relationship in Persian language. Method: This was a cross-sectional study. The study was carried out on 219 second grade girl and boy primary schoolchildren in the city of Karaj, Iran, who were selected using random cluster sampling method. First, the Phonological Awareness Test was performed individually on each subject. In the next step the dictation test was given to each class as a group. Results: The results showed that total spelling score had a significant relationship with total phonological awareness score. From among the different parts of phonological awareness, syllable awareness showed the least and phoneme awareness showed the highest correlation with spelling score. Conclusion: As with children with other languages, in Persian speaking children there is a relationship between phonological awareness and spelling skills.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of self cognitive behavioral therapy on obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms in out-patients presented to psychological service centers of Isfahan, Iran. Method: 10 patients with obsessive compulsive disorder were selected using temporal random method and were randomly assigned to two groups of five, including an experimental and a control group. Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI) was administered to both groups as pretest. The experimental group received self cognitive behavioral therapy for two weeks and the subjects in the control group were in the waiting list. Results: Results of analysis of covariance showed that instructing self cognitive behavioral therapy in the experimental group had caused a significant reduction in obsessive compulsive symptoms in comparison with the control group (P=0.003). Conclusion: This study suggests that self cognitive behavioral therapy is effective in reducing obsessive compulsive symptoms.

Objective: The classical view of hemispheric specialization considers the left hemisphere as the dominant one with respect to language abilities including grammatical information. Recent research, however, has demonstrated that the right hemisphere language system is more richly endowed than previously assumed. The present research examines the linguistic and cognitive abilities of right and left brain-damaged patients in order to provide more insight into the language competence in the two hemispheres. Method: In this study, which was a descriptive-analytical and case-control research, 10 right hemisphere-damaged patients, 10 left hemisphere-damaged patients, and 10 normal controls were tested. The subjects were selected based on particular criteria and their functions were assessed using verbal fluency, similarities, digit span and word insertion. The independent variables in this study consisted of age, sex, education, and the presence and localization of damage; and the dependent variables were the scores of the subjects on each of the administered tests. Results: Results showed that in the verbal fluency test, the difference in performance in both groups of patients was meaningful, whereas their performance in the similarities and digit span tests did not differ significantly. The results of the insertion task showed that the right hemisphere-damaged subjects performed worse on the shift than on the non-shift items. However, the left hemisphere-damaged patients, did not exhibit any difference with respect to their performance on the shift and non-shift elements. Also, the right hemisphere damaged subjects did worse on both shift and non-shift items than left hemisphere-damaged subjects. In addition, while the right hemisphere-damaged patients scored lower than the control group on the non-shift items, there was no meaningful difference between the performance of normal individuals and left hemisphere-damaged patients. Conclusion: Both groups of brain-damaged patients were almost at the same level in terms of their cognitive abilities. However, the right hemisphere-damaged subjects performed considerably weaker than the left hemisphere-damaged subjects in the syntactic experiment. Therefore, the present study is in accordance with research in English and Italian languages in indicating the important role of the right hemisphere in processing shift and non-shift syntactic structures.

Objective: In this study a group of healthy first degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia were examined and compared with one group of patients with schizophrenia and one control group, with regard to the frequency of delusional beliefs and the different dimensions of those beliefs (conviction, extension, and pressure). Method: 25 patients with schizophrenia, 35 of their first degree healthy relatives, and 35 individuals with no history of psychiatric disorder (as the healthy control group) participated in this study. The frequency of delusional beliefs and their dimensions were assessed using Peters et al. Delusion Inventory (PDI-40); and General Health Questionnaire was used to examine general mental health. Results: Frequency of delusional beliefs was significantly higher in the patient group compared with the other two groups, but its frequency was not significantly different between the family of the patients and the normal population. As for the severity of psychotic beliefs, while the scores of patients with schizophrenia were much higher than that of the normal control group, the difference was not meaningful with their family members. In addition, conviction of psychotic beliefs was higher in the group of families of patients than the normal control group. Conclusion: The existence of delusional beliefs among the healthy family members of patients with schizophrenia and their higher conviction compared to normal subjects is suggestive of the continuum notion of psychosis. Further investigations are needed to support this notion.

Objective: Adolescent substance abuse potentially holds a number of negative implications for the health and well being of the individual. The aim of this study was to estimate the incidence rate of the abuse of illicit drugs and alcohol and to determine the associated factors among second grade male high school students in the city of Tabriz, Iran. Method: 1375 male high school students in Tabriz were selected using random cluster sampling method and were examined twice with a one year gap (in two subsequent grades). In the beginning of the study (March 2005) the students completed a self-administered questionnaire with 48 questions. After one year (March 2006) a 10-question questionnaire was presented to the same students who were then in the third grade, to determine the incidence rate of illicit drug and alcohol abuse. Factors associated with the use of illicit drugs and alcohol was examined using logistic regression. Results: In the course of one year 10.1% and 2.2% of the students had experienced a rise in the use of alcohol and illicit drugs respectively. Having experience with smoking cigarettes, transmission in different stages of cigarette smoking, a general risk-taking behavior, experience with a variety of illicit drugs and not having a plan to enter the university were associated with the use of alcohol among the students. Having a general risk-taking behavior and an experience of alcohol consumption was associated with the use of illicit drugs. Conclusion: This study showed a low prevalence but a high incidence of substance abuse among adolescents as well as some associated factors. This study may support interventions that target multiple risk-taking behaviors.

Objective: Psychoacoustics links the physical parameters of sound with the sensation and perception that they evoke. The Intensity, frequency and timing are three basic characteristics of sound that are considered in most psychoacoustic studies. There is no study in Iran regarding just noticeable difference (JNP) of sound intensity, frequency and time. Method: This cross-sectional analytical study was performed on 28 normal right-handed subjects (14 males and 14 females) in the age range of 18 to 30 years. The subjects were randomly selected from among people without any previous ear disease or surgery, neurological disorder, and speech, language and hearing difficulties. The JND of sound intensity relative to the stimulus level, the JND of sound frequency relative to the stimulus frequency, and the shortest sound gap detection relative to the level of stimulus intensity were measured by conducting "intensity discrimination", "frequency discrimination" and "gap detection" tests and analyzed based on ear and sex. Results: The JND of sound intensity and the shortest amount of sound gap detection improved (decreased) at higher stimulus levels in both "intensity discrimination" and "gap detection" tests. The JND of sound frequency increased as a function of frequency increments, and the ear and sex had no effect on results. Conclusion: Our results are concordant with previous studies and can be considered as a basis for proposing related research studies and can also be used in clinical evaluations of auditory disorders.