A STUDY OF PATHOLOGICAL ASYMMETRIES IN VISUAL-SPATIAL ATTENTION IN UNILATERALLY BRAIN-DAMAGED STROKE PATIENTS.
Item
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Title
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A STUDY OF PATHOLOGICAL ASYMMETRIES IN VISUAL-SPATIAL ATTENTION IN UNILATERALLY BRAIN-DAMAGED STROKE PATIENTS.
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Identifier
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AAI8119672
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identifier
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8119672
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Creator
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PIASETSKY, EUGENE B.
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Contributor
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Prof. Jeffrey Rosen
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Date
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1981
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Experimental
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Abstract
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Despite ample documentation, the relationship between inattention and disturbances in visual-spatial functioning among brain-damaged adults continues to engender controversy. There is substantial disagreement among researchers as to the relative incidence and severity of inattention following damage to the left versus right hemisphere and as to the extent to which inattention contributes to evidenced disorders in visual-spatial functioning. On the basis of recent studies which have documented the extent to which overt evidence of inattention varies considerably as a function of the task used and criteria employed, the possibility is raised that studies of inattention have been adversely influenced by problems in assessment (detection).;The present study sought to resolve some of the controversy surrounding the occurrence and impact of inattention in unilaterally brain-damaged stroke patients. In recognition of the varying nature of inattention and the problems involved in its assessment, a special task was constructed incorporating those characteristics of task demand and face construction reported to elicit most reliably evidence of inattention. The new task was found to have detected all instances of inattention revealed on any of the five commonly used measures (copying-drawing, reading, visual cancellation of a single target, visual cancellation of two targets, and position preference on Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices). Moreover, the new task was found to have detected several instances of inattention not revealed on any of the commonly used measures.;The presence of inattention, as defined by performance on the new task, was found to be associated with performance decrements on a variety of visuo-cognitive tasks in both left and right brain-damaged patients. Signficantly, inattention on the new task was found to be related to decreased performance levels on Raven's Colored Matrices (RCPM) even when such inattention was not evidenced on the RCPM itself.;These findings are seen as providing evidence for the argument that more subtle forms of attentional asymmetry contribute to the deficits in visual-spatial functioning found in brain-damaged adults.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Psychology
