Letter Verbal Fluency in Spanish-, Basque-, and Catalan-Speaking Individuals: Does the Selection of the Letters Influence the Outcome?

Purpose The aim of this study was to compare Basque and Catalan bilinguals' performance on the letter verbal fluency test and determine whether significant differences are present depending on the letters used and the language of administration. Method The sample consisted of 87 Spanish monolinguals, 139 Basque bilinguals, and 130 Catalan bilinguals from Spain. Participants completed the letter verbal fluency test using the letters F, A, S, M, R, P, and E. Results Bilinguals scored higher on the letter verbal fluency test when they were tested in Spanish than in Basque or Catalan. No performance differences were found according to native language or dialects within Basque participants. Catalans with Spanish as their native language scored lower on the letter F compared to those who grew up speaking Catalan and Spanish. The suggested letters to use with Basque speakers are A, E, and B; the suggested letters to use with Catalan speakers are P, F, and M; and the suggested letters to use with Spanish speakers are M, R, and P. Conclusion Selecting appropriate stimuli depending on the language of testing is the first crucial step to assess verbal fluency and thus possible frontal lobe functioning impairment.

Naïve beliefs about the natural world in a case of childhood onset amnesia

The individual profiled here (M.S.) suffered an episode of severe oxygen deprivation (anoxia) at the age of eight, damaging memory relevant structures in the mid-temporal lobes, including the hippocampus bilaterally. The resulting anterograde amnesia was characterized by profound deficits in autobiographical memory, but also a compromised ability to acquire new facts and information (semantic memory), resulting in the formation of idiosyncratic and naïve beliefs about the natural world that have persisted into his adult years. This article presents an interview with M.S. in which many of these idiosyncratic beliefs are detailed, and argues that they can be broadly viewed as the interaction of; 1) intact frontal lobe functioning that supports the application of rational analysis to his lived experience, and 2) an impoverished factual knowledge base upon which to construct sophisticated and evidence-based models of his lived experience and of natural world processes.

Demographic and neuro-cognitive characteristics of patients with schizophrenia in Bahrain

Previous research has indicated differential patterns of neuro-cognitive functioning in patients with schizophrenia. In this study, we explored the relationship between neuro-cognitive functioning with both socio-demographic and symptom characteristics of 35 Arab patients attending an out-patient psychiatric clinic in the kingdom of Bahrain.All patients participated in an OPCRIT diagnostic assessment, assisted in the completion of a socio-demographic questionnaire (CSSRI) and completed a minimum of four computerized neuro-cognitive tests from the CANTAB. These were Motor Screening (MOT), Paired Associates Learning (PAL: Visual Leaning and New Memory), Stockings of Cambridge (SOC: Spatial Planning and Frontal Lobe functioning) and Intra-Extra Dimensional Set Shift (IED: Testing rule acquisition and reversal)). The average age of onset of symptoms was at age 28 (age range 19–47) and symptom onset in the majority of cases was within between 1 and 6 months. Results indicated using standard score measures on tests of cognitive function that the majority of patients experienced significant deficits in the areas of frontal lobe functioning, working memory and visual memory. Neuro-cognitive test results were not related to(1) presence/absence of insight,(b) diagnostic category, and(c) duration of illness.However, results did appear to predict employment status.Results are discussed in the context of service provision and development of psychiatric services for patients with schizophrenia in the Kingdom of Bahrain.