The effects of traumatic brain injury on logical memory : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in psychology at Massey University

Abstract

The Logical Memory subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale - Revised was administered to 80 subjects with mild to severe traumatic brain-injury (TBI) and 49 Control subjects. Quantitatively TBI subjects scored significantly below Control subjects and forgot more between the immediate and delayed testing. TBI clients also recalled more of Story B than Story A, as did all the male subjects. Female subjects performed better than the male subjects overall, TBI males scored as well as Control males which was unexpected. When the order of presentation was reversed for random Control subjects results show that performance was better for the first story presented. After the LM passages were modifying to eliminate various Americanisms, the Control subjects randomly selected performed better on the NZ version, although these results were not significant. When the demographic variables of the TBI and Control groups were compared the only significant differences were between the 21 - 30 year old subjects and the Pakeha subjects. Qualitative analysis was attempted in order to introduce a new domain of research and suggestions for improved scoring criteria. The evidence suggest that TBI subjects tend to focus on isolated details, have difficulty remembering proper nouns, and have more bizarre intrusion errors than Control subjects. Control subjects were more inclined to translate the stories into their own words and remember more of the overall gist.