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ERIC Number: EJ887646
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Apr
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1092-4388
EISSN: N/A
Relation of Executive Functioning to Pragmatic Outcome following Severe Traumatic Brain Injury
Douglas, Jacinta M.
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, v53 n2 p365-382 Apr 2010
Purpose: This study was designed to explore the behavioral nature of pragmatic impairment following severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to evaluate the contribution of executive skills to the experience of pragmatic difficulties after TBI. Method: Participants were grouped into 43 TBI dyads (TBI adults and close relatives) and 43 control dyads. All TBI participants had sustained severe injury (mean posttraumatic amnesia duration = 45.19 days, SD = 39.15) due to a moving vehicle-related trauma. A minimum of 2 years had elapsed since injury (M = 5.36 years, SD = 3.61). The La Trobe Communication Questionnaire (LCQ; Douglas, O'Flaherty, & Snow, 2000) was administered to all participants. Measures of executive function included the following: the FAS verbal fluency task (Spreen & Benton, 1969), the Speed and Capacity of Language Processing test (Baddeley, Emslie, & Nimmo-Smith, 1992), and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Task (Rey, 1964). Results: Perceptions of TBI participants and their relatives were significantly correlated (r = 0.63, p less than 0.001) and significantly different from those of controls, F(1, 84) = 37.2, p less than 0.001. Pragmatic difficulties represented violations in 3 domains of Grice's (1975) Cooperative Principle (Quantity, Relation, and Manner), and executive function measures predicted 37% (32% adjusted) of the variability in LCQ scores. Conclusions: The study demonstrates evidence of a significant association between executive impairment and the pragmatic communication difficulties experienced by individuals with TBI.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). 10801 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. Tel: 800-638-8255; Fax: 301-571-0457; e-mail: subscribe@asha.org; Web site: http://jslhr.asha.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A