05.06.2014 Views

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of - Queen Margaret University

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of - Queen Margaret University

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of - Queen Margaret University

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

n<strong>in</strong>th and tenth <strong>in</strong> the ability to learn new vocabulary. Therefore there does not<br />

appear to be any merit <strong>in</strong> us<strong>in</strong>g this test as a prognostic tool for language<br />

rehabilitation. It might be useful however, to evaluate the recovery <strong>of</strong> a person<br />

from aphasia and their ability to learn more complex non-l<strong>in</strong>guistic tasks that<br />

may be more sensitive for executive function and memory recruitment.<br />

6.3.3.5 The impact <strong>of</strong> clock draw<strong>in</strong>g task on the learn<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> new<br />

vocabulary<br />

Helm-Estabrooks (2001) advises that the clock draw<strong>in</strong>g task recruits all five<br />

cognitive processes, i.e. attention, memory, executive function, visuospatial<br />

skills and language, and can therefore be used <strong>in</strong>dependently as a m<strong>in</strong>iscreen<strong>in</strong>g<br />

assessment <strong>of</strong> cognitive function<strong>in</strong>g. The data from this task was<br />

analysed to ascerta<strong>in</strong> if the clock draw<strong>in</strong>g task might be useful as a prognostic<br />

factor <strong>in</strong> new vocabulary learn<strong>in</strong>g. Participant ability to complete the clock<br />

draw<strong>in</strong>g task varied from with<strong>in</strong> normal limits to severely impaired. As cognitive<br />

processes have been shown to be important <strong>in</strong> the acquisition and recall <strong>of</strong> new<br />

<strong>in</strong>formation and <strong>in</strong> language process<strong>in</strong>g itself (see section 2.6.3.3) it was<br />

predicted that participants who had good clock draw<strong>in</strong>g skills would learn more<br />

vocabulary than those with no impairment for this task. The hypo<strong>thesis</strong> ‘clock<br />

draw<strong>in</strong>g skills are correlated positively with the recall <strong>of</strong> new vocabulary’ was<br />

supported both for immediate (r = +.774; p

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!