The case of Laura (also known as Marta), a young woman with a testable IQ of 40, provides the opportunity to address key issues concerning the relationships between language and other mental functions as well and among the components of language use. The case shows that language can develop and function in spite of marked, pervasive cognitive deficiencies, and it provides clinical evidence in support of the notion that language is an independent cognitive ability. Possibly the most in-depth and comprehensive study of selectively intact language done to date, this case counters claims that cognitive, social/interactive, and perceptual factors can wholly account for language acquistion and upholds the notion that language is a highly evolved, specialized human ability driven at least in part by a set of principles seen in no other cognitive domains. Jeni Yamada presents Laura's provocative performance profile of relatively advanced linguistic abilities alongside significantly impaired nonlinguistic skills. Laura differs from other subjects studied in that her cognitive impairment is particularly marked. In addition, her syntactic and semantic knowledge are more dissociated than previously studied subjects. As the data on Laura unfold, they show that language can emerge and develop despite limited nonlinguistic cognitive abilities, including those hypothesized to be prerequisite for language or to reflect underlying principles necessary for both nonlinguistic and linguistic development. In addition, the case indicates that various components of language are separable and differentially related to nonlanguage abilities.
Author(s): Jeni Yamada, John C. Marshall
Series: (Issues in the Biology of Language and Cognition)
Publisher: MIT Press
Year: 1991
Language: English
Pages: 188
Laura
Contents
Foreword
References
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Chapter 1— Introduction
1.1— Background
1.2— Laura's Case
Chapter 2— Case History and Family Background
2.1— Developmental Milestones
2.2— Linguistic Milestones
2.3— Education
2.4— Standardized Tests
2.5— Medical Problems
2.6— Environment
2.7— Appearance and Affect
Chapter 3— Assessment
3.1— Test Procedures
3.2— Linguistic Assessment
3.2.1— Comprehension
3.2.2— Production
Imitation Tasks
Elicitation Test
Spontaneous Speech
3.2.3— Other Tests
3.3— Nonlinguistic Assessment
3.3.1— Object Permanence and Means-Ends Tests
3.3.2— Conservation Tests
3.3.3— Seriation Test
3.3.4— Classification Tests
3.3.5— Representational Tasks
Play
Drawing
3.3.6— Spatial Abilities Tests
Copying
Stereognosis
3.3.7— Number Concepts Tests
3.3.8— Logical Sequencing Task
3.3.9— Classification/Categorization Test
3.3.10— Rule Abduction Tests
3.3.11— Hierarchical Construction Tasks
3.3.12— Aphasia Test
3.3.13— Memory Tests
3.3.14— Dichotic Listening Test
3.3.15— Gestalt Perception Tests
3.3.16— Disembedding Tests
3.3.17— Facial Recognition Test
3.3.18— Environmental Sounds Recognition Test
3.3.19— Familiar Voices Recognition Test
Chapter 4— Language
4.1— Syntax
4.1.1— Production
4.1.2— Comprehension
4.2— Morphology
4.2.1— Production
4.2.2— Comprehension
4.3— Semantics
4.3.1— Production
4.3.2— Semantic Relationships
4.3.3— Lexical Semantics
4.3.4— Comprehension
4.4— Conditional Tasks
4.5— Cycle–Spontaneous Speech Analysis
4.6— Productivity
4.7— Phonology
4.7.1— Production
4.7.2— Comprehension
4.7.3— Auditory Closure (ITPA)
4.8— Summary
Chapter 5— Pragmatics
Chapter 6— Nonlinguistic Cognition
6.1— Piagetian Theory
6.1.1— The Sensorimotor Stage
6.1.2— The Preoperational and Concrete Operational Stages
6.1.2.1— Conservation and Seriation
6.1.2.2— Classification
6.1.3— Performance in Areas Associated with Piagetian Stages
Results of Object Permanence and Means-Ends Testing
Results of Conservation Testing
Results of Seriation Testing
Results of Classification Testing
Results of Class Inclusion Testing
6.2— Representational Abilities
6.2.1— Play
Results of Play Observations
6.2.2— Drawing
Results of Drawing Tasks
6.3— Spatial Abilities
Results of Spatial Abilities Testing
6.4— Number Concepts
Results of Number Testing
6.5— Logical Sequencing
Results of Logical Sequencing Testing
6.6— Classification/Categorization
Results of Classification/Categorization Testing
6.7— Rule Abduction
Results of Rule Abduction Testing
6.8— Hierarchical Construction
Results of Hierarchical Construction Testing
6.9— Discussion
6.10— Summary
Chapter 7— Neuropsychological Testing
7.1— The Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination
7.2— Memory
Results of Memory Testing
7.3— Dichotic Listening
Results of Dichotic Listening Testing
7.4— Abilities Possibly Controlled by the Left Hemisphere
7.4.1— Short-Term Memory, Sequencing, Numbers
7.4.2— Disembedding
Results of Disembedding Testing
7.5— Abilities Possibly Controlled by the Right Hemisphere
7.5.1— Gestalt Perception (and Part-Whole Perception)
Results of Gestalt Perception Testing
7.5.2— Facial Recognition
Results of Facial Recognition Testing
7.5.3— Enviromental Sounds Recognition
Results of Environmental Sounds Recognition Testing
7.5.4— Familiar Voices Recognition
Results of Familiar Voices Recognition Testing
7.6— Abilities Possibly Controlled by Both Hemispheres
7.7— Summary of Performance on Neuropsychological Tests
Chapter 8— Discussion
Appendix A— Description of Some Linguistic Measures
A.1— Comprehension: Receptive Language Measures
A.1.1— CYCLE-R
A.1.2— Token Test
A.2— Production: Expressive Language Measures
A.2.1— CYCLE-E
A.2.2— CYCLE-S
A.2.2.1— Grammatical Analysis
A.2.2.2— Semantic Analysis
A.2.2.3— Conversational (Pragmatic) Analysis
A.2.3— Developmental Sentence Scoring
A.3— Other Tests: Conditional Tasks
Appendix B— Description of Some Nonlinguistic Test Procedures
B.1— Classification Tests
B.2— Classification/Categorization Tests
B.3— Class Inclusion Tests
B.4— Conservation Tests
B.4.1— Length
B.4.2— Solid Quantity
B.4.3— Liquid Quantity
B.4.4— Weight
B.4.5— Number
B.5— Dichotic Listening Test
B.6— Disembedding Tests
B.6.1— Embedded Figures Test
B.6.2— Figure-Ground Visual Perception Test
B.7— Environmental Sounds Recognition Test
B.8— FaciaI Recognition Test
B.9— Familiar Voices Recognition Test
B.10— Gestalt Perception Tests
B.10.1— Mooney Faces Test
B.10.2— Perceptual Integration Test
B.10.3— Visual Closure Test
B.11— Hierarchical Construction Tasks
B.12— Logical Sequencing Task
B.13— Memory Tests
B.13.1— Auditory Memory Span Test
B.13.2— Auditory Sequential Memory Test
B.13.3— Corsi Blocks Test
B.13.4— Knox Cubes Test
B.13.5— Memory for Auditory Nonverbal Stimuli Test
B.13.6— Memory for Designs Test
B.13.7— Memory with Verbal Mediation Task
B.13.8— Visual Sequential Memory
B.14— Number Concept Tests
B.14.1— Magic Show
B.14.2— Counting
B.14.3— Infinity
B.14.4— Number Recognition
B.15— Abduction Tests
B.15.1— Rule/Nonrule Governed Learning Test
B.15.2— Simple Rule Acquisition Test
B.16— Sensorimotor Tests
B.16.1— Object Concepts
B.16.2— Means-Ends
B.17— Seriation Test
B.18— Spatial Abilities Tests
B.18.1— Stereognosis
B.18.2— Visual Retention Test
Appendix C— Conversations with Laura
Dialogue 1
Dialogue 2
Dialogue 3
Dialogue 4
Notes
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 4
Chapter 6
Chapter 8
References
Index
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
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P
R
S
T
U
V
W
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