Neuropsychological correlates of academic success among elementary school children

Do Neuropsychological Measures Contribute to the Prediction of Academic Achievement? The Predictive Validity of the LNNB-CR Pathognomonic Scale

It is well known that measures of intelligence are good predictors of academic achievement. Because many children with behavioral or learning problems also do poorly on neuropsychological measures, it was of interest to examine the predictive validity of a measure of neuropsychological integrity and determine its joint and independent contribution in comparison with traditional intelligence measures. The Pathognomonic Scale (PS) of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery-Children's Revision (LNNB-CR), which consists of the 13 items from the full LNNB-CR that best discriminate brain-damaged from normal children, was obtained for a sample of 77 children referred to a psychology clinic for behavioral and emotional problems. The PS was found to account for a small (12% or less), but statistically significant amount of variance that was independent of that accounted for by WISC-R intelligence scores in predicting reading and spelling, but not arithmetic achievement. These results provide limited support for the use of the PS in the prediction of academic achievement.

Clinical Neurophysiology in the Schools

Criticisms of many commonly used psycho-educational tests have stimulated interest in development of more objective and culturally less biased assessment procedures. The disciplines of neuropsychology, electrophysiology and psychophysiology use procedures which could be of value in this regard. Potential contributions of each of these disciplines are discussed. Brief descriptions are given of representative assessment tools used by clinical neuropsychologists and psychophysiologists. Several approaches to computer scored measurement of electrical activity of the brain in assessment of school learning problems are described.

Neuropsychological predictors of academic underachievement in pediatric epilepsy: moderating roles of demographic, seizure, and psychosocial variables

PURPOSE

Academic underachievement is common in pediatric epilepsy. Attempts to identify seizure and psychosocial risk factors for underachievement have yielded inconsistent findings, raising the possibility that seizure and psychosocial variables play a complex role in combination with other variables such as neuropsychological functioning. This study cross-validated a neuropsychological measurement model for childhood epilepsy, examined the relation between neuropsychological functioning and academic achievement, and tested the degree to which demographic, seizure, and psychosocial variables moderate that relation.

METHODS

Children with chronic epilepsy (N = 173; ages 8 to 15 years; 49% girls; 91% white/non-Hispanic; 79% one seizure type; 79% taking one medication; 69% with active seizures) completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. Children diagnosed with mental retardation were excluded.

RESULTS

Structural equation modeling identified a three-factor measurement model of neuropsychological function: Verbal/Memory/Executive (VME), Rapid Naming/Working Memory (RN/WM), and Psychomotor (PM). VME and RN/WM were strongly related to reading, math, and writing; PM predicted writing only. Family environment moderated the impact of neuropsychological deficits on writing (p < or = 0.01) and possibly for reading (p = 0.05); neuropsychological deficits had a smaller impact on achievement for children in supportive/organized homes compared with children in unsupportive/disorganized homes.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings lend partial support for our theoretical model showing direct effects of neuropsychological function on achievement and the moderating role of family factors. This study suggests that a subgroup of children with epilepsy (those who have not only neuropsychological deficits but also disorganized/unsupportive home environments) are particularly at risk for adverse academic outcomes. Implications for intervention are discussed.

Sex differences in neuropsychological performance for children with reading deficits

This study examined sex differences in neuropsychological functioning for a large sample of public school children with reading deficits. Specifically, scores on the Weschsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised (Wechsler, 1974), the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery for older children (Reitan, 1969) and the Wide Range Achievement Test (Jastak and Jastak, 1978) were compared for males and females in a multivariate fashion. Significant sex differences were found in motor, verbal and nonverbal functioning. Females seemed to be more aberrant than males in expected neuropsychological performance.

The relationship between the pediatric neurological examination and neuropsychological assessment measures for young children

Children with some degree of neurological dysfunction have traditionally been assessed by means of pediatric neurological examinations and/or neuropsychological test batteries. The present study investigated the relationship between these two different assessment methods in a normal population of 129 kindergarten and second grade students. Results indicated that of the 396 correlations conducted for each grade, 18% of the kindergarten and 15% of the second grade sample correlations were significant at the .01 level. Given the relatively few positive correlations, and the fact that there were few consistent patterns within and across grade levels, it was concluded that these two assessment procedures measure different areas of functioning and constitute two separate components of a broad evaluation of the relationship between behavior and the adequacy of brain functions.

Test-retest reliability of the Reitan-Indiana Neuropsychological Test Battery for Children Aged 5 Through 8

The present study attempted to assess the test-retest reliability of the Reitan-Indiana Neuropsychological Test Battery for Children aged 5 through 8 and to establish the magnitude of practice effects for a normal sample of school aged children. The sample population included 191 kindergarten and 193 second grade students who were administered the entire Reitan-Indiana Battery during the first year of the study and again at one year follow-up. Correlation analyses of random half samples of the population revealed 35 of the 39 test indices measured were stable for at least one of the half samples for the younger (kindergarten-first grade) sample with the same being true for 31 of the 39 variables assessed for the older (second-third grade) sample.

Differentially Talented Females: Some Critical Methodological Issues for the 1980s

Usually psychometric studies have searched for the personality correlates associated with L (high linguistic and low quantitative ability) and Q (low linguistic and high quantitative ability) patterns. Neuropsychological studies, on the other hand, have searched for the cortical processes associated with L and Q patterns or for the psychological functions (presumably linguistic and visuospatial) associated with left- and right-hemispheric processing, respectively. To further our understanding of the relationship of L and Q patterns to personality correlates and modes of information processing and to clarify conflicting interpretations attributed to sex and sex-role factors, a cohort-sequential methodology and a convergence of psychometry with neuropsychology are recommended; three critical methodological issues are explored.