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Friday stream 1-4 Session 09.50 - 11.10 Length 25 minutes
V. Bougiotopoulou, A. Andreopoulou, Prof. As. O. Inshakova
Moscow Stage Pedagogical University, Russia bougiotopoulou@hotmail.com
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to determine the character of verbal-auditory and visual memory in the short-term and long-term modalities in boys and girls with dyslexia. The study included 21 schoolboys and 14 schoolgirls aged 7-10 years with dyslexia from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd classes of primary school. The control group comprised 12 schoolboys and 19 schoolgirls of the same age without dyslexia. The study was carried out by using a neuropsychological technique of A.R.Luria. 80% of children with dyslexia had pronounced disorders of memory. From these 61.7% are dyslexic boys and 82.1% are dyslexic girls. In dyslexic boys the impairment is greater and more often in long-term verbal-auditory and visual memory. In girls impairment is greater in short-term and long-term visual memory. Therapy to combat dyslexia must be organized and constructed making use of the remaining area of the memory. The study of memory can be used as one of the diagnostic criteria to prevent disorders of writing and reading.
Dyslexia is one of the most common manifestations of specific difficulties in learning in primary school. The nature of this disorder has been studied insufficiently. Its internal structure, the relation with disturbance of other mental processes are not clear. The role of biological and social-pedagogical factors in the genesis of dyslexia, the dependence of their manifestation on the functioning of the central nervous system and in particular disorders of the cerebral activity have been insufficiently investigated as well.
Neuropsychology opens great possibilities in studying these problems being of importance for logopedical and general diagnosis and correction of dysgraphia.
The foundation of neuropsychological study of specific difficulties in learning has been laid by the works of A.R.Luria which had proved the fact that all forms of learning are mediated by the brain. The method of syndrome analysis of disturbances in mental processes permits not only to establish but also to classify a disorder of the cerebral activity in children with dyslexia. This is achieved owing to a qualitative analysis of the defect based on the statement that one and the same psychological function can be disordered in damage of different cerebral structures, but in each cerebral damage this disorder will manifest itself in different ways (A.R.Luria, 1962).
Great possibilities in this respect are opened by the study of memory involved in the structure of virtually any type of mental activity. Memory is referred to the most studied function in neuropsychology in terms of the relation of different types of its impairment with localization of the cerebral damage.
The purpose of the study was to study short-term and long-term memory verbal-auditory and visual memory ,in children with dyslexia and their differents in boys and girls.
We tested a total number of 66 pupils aged 7- 10 years. From them,35 were children with dyslexia, , aged 7-10 years, who were pupils of the 1st-3rd classes of primary school of the city of Moscow (21 boys and 14 girls). The control group comprised 31 children of the same age without signs of dyslexia (12 boys and 19 girls).
The study was carried out by using a neurospsychological technique "express diagnosis Luria-90" developed by E.G. Simernitskaya in 1991 which was based on the A.R. Luria technique. This neuropsycological method studies the defining and actuality procedures of the imprints, in auditory and visual sphere in conditions of immediate and extended reproduction.
The method is comprised of 10 series.
Series 1.Memorization of two
groups of words, comprised of three words each
Series 2. Memorization of
five words.
Series 3. First, extended reproduction, of auditory stimuli.
Series 4. memorization of five letters.
Series 5. Memorization of five
shapes.
Series 6. Cross-reference reproduction of visual stimuli.
Series 7. Second extended reproduction of auditory stimuli.
Series 8.
Word recognition.
Series 9. Third, extended reproduction of auditory
stimuli.
Series 10. Extended reproduction of visual memory.
The results of the realization of all the series are given a score from 12 scales.Each of them, reflects one of the following parameter of the psychic activity:
In express-diagnosis method has been used a different principle of assessing the scores, is used .In assessing the score not only the number of elements reproduction is taken into consideration but also, the number of times the elements were presented for their reproduction. This way the broadening of the score is emphatically ensured compared with the traditional ways of assessing the score.
The evaluation of the results of performing each task was made by means of a 10-score scale, according to which the maximum score designated the maximum degree of the memorizing impairment. Scoring was carried out taking into account not only the quantity of correctly reproduced elements but also the number of presentations required for their reproduction.For a number of parameters, the evaluation in express-diagnosis method hasn't a higher limit significance. Evaluation is defined by the number of the mistakes, each of these mistakes getting the equivalent grade.
All children from the main and control groups were studied in accordance with one program whose fulfillment was evaluated by using one and the same system of scoring.
In this paper the statistical anaysis was made entirely by Prof. Dr. A. Petrakis PhD in Mathematics (Institute of Technological Education - Department of Sciences) using the following software :
SPSS software product version 10.0. The SPSS is a comprehensive system for analyzing data. SPSS can take data and use them to generate tabulated reports, charts, and plots of distributions and trends, descriptive statistics, and complex statistical analyses. The STATVIEW Professional, Graphic, Statistics Utility for excellent graphics.The MS EXCEL product for creating tables.
We have used the unpaired two tail Student's t-test for testing null hypotheses for the mean of two variables and also used the one ANOVA and F-distribution (Fisher) for testing null hypotheses for the mean of three or more variables.
The main result of the studies has shown that 92.86% of children with dyslexia have disturbances of memory.
88.75% of dyslexic children m = 11.99 have visual memory capabilities 3 times worse than those of the children of the control group m = 4.30. This disturbance has a steady character since, the statistical analysis has shown that there is no development from class to class.
82.86% of the dyslexic children m = 15.46 have verbal-auditory memory capabilities twice lower than those of the control group m = 6.94 and though the verbal-auditory memory capabilities tend to improve from class to class, the capabilities of the dyslexic who are in the 3rd class m = 10.74 hardly approach the memory capabilities of pupils of the norm in the 1st class m = 11.1.
Consequently, the visual memory disturbances of dyslexic pupils are greater and steadier than the disturbances of verbal-auditory memory.
The long-term visual memory in 94.29% of the dyslexic pupils m = 2.02 is disturbed 3 times more than that of the norm m = 0.66. It has a steady character since it has no evolutionary dynamics in terms of statistics.
In 85.71% of the dyslexic children we encounter a disturbance in long-term verbal-auditory memory. This disturbance, in relation to the long-term verbal-auditory memory of the norm m = 1.42 , is twice worse among dyslexic pupils m = 3.12. Though the possibilities of long-term verbal-auditory memory have positive evolutionary dynamics, in the 3rd class the average of the dyslexic m=2.83 hardly approaches the average of pupils of the norm m=1.97.
Disturbance in short-term visual memory is encountered in 94.29% of dyslexic children m = 1.61. In relation to the norm m = 0.77, this disturbance is twice greater and has a steady character.
The statistical analysis has shown that short-term verbal-auditory memory of dyslexic children has the same abilities as that of the children of the norm.
Consequently, of all studied parameters of memory, long-term memory, in both its visual and verbal-auditory modalities, is disturbed more though the disturbance of long-term verbal-auditory memory, expressed by the positive evolutionary dynamics, manifests itself to a lesser degree. We cannot say the same, though, about long-term visual memory, whose disturbance is steady.
Memory disturbance in 78.57% of the dyslexic children has a polymodal character, which means that both the visual and verbal-auditory modalities are disturbed at the same time.
We also encounter 10% of the dyslexic pupils with specific disorders in visual memory alone and 4.29% of the dyslexic with specific disorders in verbal-auditory memory alone.
Consequently, memory of the dyslexic pupils has a modality non-specific disturbance.
By analyzing the results in view of the sex-factor it appears that 94.64% of the dyslexic girls and 91.66% of the dyslexic boys have memory disorders.
Specifically, 92.86% of the dyslexic girls m = 12.14 have visual memory capabilities 4 times lower than the girls of the norm m = 3.66. These disturbances have a steady character.
Since the statistical processing of the data has shown that there is no substantial difference in visual memory between the two groups of boys, the search group m = 9.25 and the control group m = 5.01 , we can suggest that dyslexic boys retain their abilities in visual memory at normal levels.
Consequently, dyslexic girls have a serious and constant visual memory disturbance and dyslexic boys, retain their visual memory abilities.
In 85.71% of dyslexic girls m = 13.06 , the abilities of verbal-auditory memory are reduced 2.5 timesthan the girls of the norm m = 3.84. This disorder has a steady character.
In visual memory, 80.95% of boys m = 9.25 have a disturbance 1.5 times worse than the boys of norm m = 5.01, manifesting a steady character.
Consequently, we find verbal-auditory memory disturbance both in dyslexic girls and dyslexic boys.
In 92.86% of dyslexic girls m = 1.95 , long-term visual memory is disturbed 4 times more than in the girls of norm m = 0.41, and this disturbance has a steady character.
Dyslexic boys retain their abilities in long-term visual reproduction of stimuli.
Consequently, long-term visual memory is disturbed only in girls, and it remains healthy in boys.
In 92.86% of dyslexic girls m = 2.68, long-term verbal-auditory memory is disturbed 3 times in relation to the girls of norm m = 0.84, and it has a steady character. In this parameter, too, boys manifest no disturbance.
Consequently, long-term verbal-auditory memory is disturbed only in dyslexic girls and the dyslexic boys, retain the abilities of long-term verbal-auditory memory at normal levels.
In 92.86% of dyslexic girls m = 1.61, short-term visual memory is disturbed 3 times more than in the girls of norm m = 0.66 . This disturbance is not only greater but also more powerful, with a steady character. In this kind of memory, dyslexic boys, , retain the abilities of short-term visual memory at normal levels, as is the case with long-term verbal-auditory memory.
Consequently, dyslexic girls have a serious and constant short-term visual memory disturbances and the dyslexic boys, retain their short-term visual memory abilities.Short-term verbal-auditory memory remains at normal levels in both boys and girls.
The statistical processing of the data has shown that the abilities of memory in the control group are independent of sex and are not affected by it.
In conclusion, we can say that in long-term memory, both in its visual and auditory modality, severe disturbances appear only in girls.
Moreover, only in girls we can find disturbances of the short-term visual memory. Sort-term auditory memory is kept healthy in both sexes.
Conclusions : In most dyslexic pupils, memory disturbances were observed, but even in the most obvious disturbances we always find healthy memory modalities on which we should base the construction of the dyslexic pupils' memory development program.
The logopedic program should be structured not only by taking into consideration the specifications of each dyslexic pupil separately, but the sex factor as well.
Impairment of verbal-auditory and visual memory can be one of serious Causes leading to dyslexia . The study of memory can be used as one of the diagnostic criteria to prevent dyslexia.
Bibliography
1.Luria A.R. (1974)" Neuropsychology of memory", Moscow:" pedagogica "publishing house ,(in Russian language)
2.Luria A.R.(1973)" Basic principle of neuropsychology " Moscow: Press Moscow University,(in Russian language)
3.Luria A.R. (1969)"Higher cortical functions in man and their disturbances in local lesions." Moscow: Press Moscow University,(in Russian language)
4.Luria A.R (1975) "Brain and memory" , Moscow :Press Moscow University (in Russian language)
5. Simernitskaya E.G.(1991)" Neuropsychology diagnosis of memory, "express diagnosis Luria-90" , Moscow ,(in Russian language)
6. Simernitskaya E.G.(1985) "Human Brain and mental processes in ontogenesis " , Moscow :Press Moscow University (in Russian language)
****Petrakis A. Contact person for the statistical model in data analysis. : petrakis @hotmail.com
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