Eli Vakil
Bar-Ilan University, Psychology, Faculty Member
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Temporal and semantic associative processes during the acquisition of new verbal information undergo various changes across the life span. Temporal order clusters and subjective clusters were monitored during verbal learning trials using... more
Temporal and semantic associative processes during the acquisition of new verbal information undergo various changes across the life span. Temporal order clusters and subjective clusters were monitored during verbal learning trials using the Rey (Auditory Verbal Learning Task) for 1471 participants aged 8-91. Pairs, three-word, and four-word clusters were measured. Subjective clusters were generated at similar frequency across the whole life span. By contrast, a clear inverted-U curve across life span was indicated for temporal clusters. More words were subjectively clustered than clustered by temporal presentation order. The number of words clustered increased across trials, and cluster types showed a different increase profile across trials. The subjective cluster increment was faster and steeper than the temporal cluster increment in most of the age segments. Life span trajectory tendencies in the formation of temporal and semantic associations in recall were interpreted in relat...
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Background: Integrative research review infers generalizations about a substantive subject, summarizes the accumulated knowledge that research has left unresolved and generates a new framework on these issues. Due to methodological issues... more
Background: Integrative research review infers generalizations about a substantive subject, summarizes the accumulated knowledge that research has left unresolved and generates a new framework on these issues. Due to methodological issues emerging from working memory (WM) studies in the population with non-specific intellectual disability (NSID) (N = 64) between 1990–2014, it is difficult to conclude on WM performance in this popula-
Sequence learning is the cognitive faculty enabling everyday skill acquisition. In the lab, it is typically measured in speed of response to sequential stimuli, whereby faster responses are taken to indicate improved anticipation.... more
Sequence learning is the cognitive faculty enabling everyday skill acquisition. In the lab, it is typically measured in speed of response to sequential stimuli, whereby faster responses are taken to indicate improved anticipation. However, response speed is an indirect measure of anticipation, that can provide only limited information on underlying processes. As a result, little is known about what is learned during sequence learning, and how that unfolds over time. In this work, eye movements that occurred before targets appeared on screen in an ocular serial reaction time (O-SRT) task provided an online indication of where participants anticipated upcoming targets. When analyzed in the context of the stimuli preceding them, oculomotor anticipations revealed several simultaneous learning processes. These processes influenced each other, as learning the task grammar facilitated acquisition of the target sequence. However, they were dissociable, as the grammar was similarly learned w...
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BACKGROUND Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a steadily rising health concern associated with significant risk of emotional, behavioral and cognitive impairments. Cognitive memory impairment is one of the most concerning outcomes after TBI,... more
BACKGROUND Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a steadily rising health concern associated with significant risk of emotional, behavioral and cognitive impairments. Cognitive memory impairment is one of the most concerning outcomes after TBI, affecting a wide range of everyday activities, social interactions and employment. Several comparative and comprehensive reviews on the effects of cognitive interventions in individuals with TBI have been conducted but usually with a qualitative rather than quantitative approach. Thus, evidence synthesis of the effects of TBI interventions on memory difficulties is limited. OBJECTIVE In this meta-analysis, we examined the memory-remediating effects of internal and external interventions, injury severity and the interaction of both factors for patients with TBI. METHOD Data were extracted from studies published between 1980 and 2020 that used objective memory measures (computerized or pencil-and-paper), and multiple meta-analyses were conducted to compare effectiveness across these interventions. Publication bias was assessed, as was quality of evidence using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool for randomized controlled studies. RESULTS Our final meta-analysis included 16 studies of 17 interventions classified into 3 categories: internal, external and mixed. Mixed interventions demonstrated the highest average effect size for memory difficulties (Morris d = 0.79). An evaluation of injury severity yielded 2 categories: mild-moderate and moderate-severe. Analyses demonstrated a homogenous medium effect size of improvement across injury severity, with moderate-severe injury with the largest average effect size (Morris d = 0.65). Further evaluation of injury severity interaction with intervention type revealed a mediating effect for both factors, demonstrating the largest effect size for mixed interventions with moderate-severe injury (Morris d = 0.81). CONCLUSION This study highlights the effectiveness of memory remediation interventions on memory impairment after TBI. A wide range of interventions are more effective because they address individual variability for severity and memory deficits. The study further supports and expands existing intervention standards and guidelines.
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Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Science, Medicine, Episodic Memory, and 15 moreMemory, Humans, Female, Male, Glasgow Coma Scale, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Middle Aged, Adult, Recall, Memory Disorders, Environment, Verbal Learning, Brain injuries, Neuropsychological Tests, and photic stimulation
Research Interests: Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Science, Occupational Therapy, Personality, Medicine, and 15 morePopulation, Humans, Character, Female, Male, Glasgow Coma Scale, Middle Aged, Moderation, Adult, Prognosis, Neurosciences, Object Attachment, Brain injuries, Combined Modality Therapy, and Injury Severity Score
Many studies have reported impaired selective attention in the elderly. Recent studies have isolated various underlying mechanisms of selective attention such as excitation, inhibition, and habituation. In the present study, 50 young... more
Many studies have reported impaired selective attention in the elderly. Recent studies have isolated various underlying mechanisms of selective attention such as excitation, inhibition, and habituation. In the present study, 50 young adults and 50 elderly participants were ...
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This study presents two experiments that explored consolidation of implicit sequence learning based on two dependent variables—reaction time (RT) and correct anticipations to clarify the role of sleep, and whether the manual component is... more
This study presents two experiments that explored consolidation of implicit sequence learning based on two dependent variables—reaction time (RT) and correct anticipations to clarify the role of sleep, and whether the manual component is necessary for consolidation processes. Experiment 1 ( n = 37) explored the performance of adults using an ocular variant of the serial reaction time task (O-SRT) with manual activation (MA), and Experiment 2 ( n = 37) used the ocular activation (OA) version of the task. Each experiment consisted of a Day and a Night group that performed two sessions of the O-SRT with an intervening 12-h offline period (morning/evening in Day group, evening/following morning in Night group). Night offline had an advantage only when manual response was required and when correct anticipations (i.e., accuracy) but not RT (i.e., speed) were measured. We associated this finding with the dual-learning processes required in the MA O-SRT that led to increased sequence specific learning overnight. When using the OA O-SRT, both groups demonstrated similar rates after offline in RT and correct anticipations. We interpreted this finding to reflect stabilization, which confirmed our hypothesis. As expected, all the groups demonstrated reduced performance when another sequence was introduced, thus reflecting sequence-specific learning. This study used a powerful procedure that allows measurement of implicit sequence learning in several ways: by evaluating two different measures (RT, correct anticipations) and by isolating different aspects of the task (i.e., with/without the manual learning component, more/less general skill learning), which are known to affect learning and consolidation.
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While explicit memory in amnesics is impaired, their implicit memory remains preserved. Memory impairment is one of the side eects of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). ECT patients are expected to show impairment on explicit but not... more
While explicit memory in amnesics is impaired, their implicit memory remains preserved. Memory impairment is one of the side eects of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). ECT patients are expected to show impairment on explicit but not implicit tasks. The present study examined 17 normal controls and 17 patients with severe major depressive disorder who underwent right unilateral ECT. Patients were tested in three sessions: 24±48 hours prior to, 24±48 hours following the ®rst ECT, and 24±48 hours following the eighth ECT. The controls were tested in three sessions, at time intervals that paralleled those of the patients. Implicit memory was tested by the perceptual priming task Ð Partial Picture-Identi®cation (PPI). The skill learning task used entailed solving the Tower of Hanoi puzzle (TOHP). Explicit memory was tested by picture recall from the PPI task, verbal recall of information regarding the TOHP, and by the Visual Paired Association (VPA) test. Results showed that explicit que...
The ability to chain together sequences of information and action is pivotal to everyday acquisition of skills. Despite extensive research of sequence learning, little focus has been given to individual performance in standard tasks... more
The ability to chain together sequences of information and action is pivotal to everyday acquisition of skills. Despite extensive research of sequence learning, little focus has been given to individual performance in standard tasks measuring this capability. As a result, little is known regarding what knowledge participants gain during such tasks. In the current work, an individualand item-based analysis is performed of eye movements that occur during a spatial sequence learning task and reflect anticipation of upcoming target locations. We show that the knowledge participants acquire during the task is tightly linked to a-priori response biases they bring into the experiment. Results suggest that a-priori biases may be a sizeable influence on performance in learning experiments, that tends to be overlooked. Implications for designing and reading studies of sequence learning are discussed.
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Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Humans, Psychological, Female, and 5 moreMale, Reaction Time, Young Adult, Adult, and Motor Skills
To compare the eye movement patterns of adults with ADHD with those of controls as they perform the Stroop test. Thirty individuals with ADHD (ages 18-31), and 30 controls participated in this study. The hypothesis was that under the... more
To compare the eye movement patterns of adults with ADHD with those of controls as they perform the Stroop test. Thirty individuals with ADHD (ages 18-31), and 30 controls participated in this study. The hypothesis was that under the incongruent condition, the group with ADHD would focus longer on the distracter than the controls. Participants with ADHD showed a more pronounced Stroop effect than the controls. Eye movements indicated that more time was spent fixating on the target than on the distracter. The most significant differences between the groups were the overall time spent on the target and the number of fixations on the target, rather than on the distracter. Furthermore, the group with ADHD made more transitions between the target and distracter stimuli. These results were interpreted to indicate an inefficient strategy used by the group with ADHD in their attempt to ignore the distracter stimuli.
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There is ample evidence supporting the dissociation between the role of the left and right cerebral hemispheres in processing words and faces, respectively. Nevertheless, research has not yet studied the effect of perceptual asymmetry in... more
There is ample evidence supporting the dissociation between the role of the left and right cerebral hemispheres in processing words and faces, respectively. Nevertheless, research has not yet studied the effect of perceptual asymmetry in memory context effect tasks using words and faces. Thus, the present study researches the advantages of presenting information in the right versus left hemispace and the effect of context on recognition when using faces compared to words presented in the right versus left hemispace. Participants (n=60) were assigned either to the group presented with pairs of words, or with pairs of faces. One stimulus in each pair was designated as the target (i.e., to be remembered) and the other served as context (i.e., to be ignored). Half of the targets were presented in the right hemispace, and half were presented in the left hemispace. As predicted, words were better recognized when presented in the right hemispace, while faces were better remembered when pre...
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This study was conducted in order to investigate the possibility that effortful processes are involved in the retrieval stage of the putative automatic task-frequency judgment. Head-injured (HI) and control groups were tested on a... more
This study was conducted in order to investigate the possibility that effortful processes are involved in the retrieval stage of the putative automatic task-frequency judgment. Head-injured (HI) and control groups were tested on a frequency of occurrence task under explicit-intentional retrieval (i.e., frequency estimation) and implicit-unintentional retrieval (i.e., word-stem priming) conditions. Subjects were presented with a list of nouns that appeared once, three times, and six times. Following presentation, subjects were first given a priming task, then a recall task, and finally a frequency judgment task. Although the control group performed better than the HI group on recall and frequency judgment tasks, the groups did not differ on the priming task. The results are discussed in terms of the relationship between effortful and automatic memory processes.
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Free recall (FR) is a ubiquitous internally-driven retrieval operation that crucially affects our day-to-day life. The neural correlates of FR, however, are not sufficiently understood, partly due to the methodological challenges... more
Free recall (FR) is a ubiquitous internally-driven retrieval operation that crucially affects our day-to-day life. The neural correlates of FR, however, are not sufficiently understood, partly due to the methodological challenges presented by its emerging property and endogenic nature. Using fMRI and performance measures, the neuro-behavioral correlates of FR were studied in 33 healthy participants who repeatedly encoded and retrieved word-lists. Retrieval was determined either overtly via verbal output (Experiment 1) or covertly via motor responses (Experiment 2). Brain activation during FR was characterized by two types of performance-based parametric analyses of retrieval changes over time. First was the elongation in inter response time (IRT) assumed to represent the prolongation of memory search over time, as increased effort was needed. Using a derivative of this parameter in whole brain analysis revealed the default mode network (DMN): longer IRT within FR blocks correlated with less deactivation of the DMN, representing its greater recruitment. Second was the increased number of words retrieved in repeated encoding-recall cycles, assumed to represent the learning process. Using this parameter in whole brain analysis revealed increased deactivation in the DMN (i.e., less recruitment). Together our results demonstrate the naturally occurring dynamics in the recruitment of the DMN during utilization of internally generated processes during FR. The contrasting effects of increased and decreased recruitment of the DMN following dynamics in memory search and learning, respectively, supports the idea that with learning FR is less dependent on neural operations of internally-generated processes such as those initially needed for memory search.
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Research Interests: Cognitive Science, Animal Studies, Prefrontal Cortex, Learning, Humans, and 15 moreFemale, Male, Cortex, Declarative Memory, Aged, Middle Aged, Basal ganglia, Maze Learning, Neurosciences, Parkinson Disease, Control Group, Kinesis, Acoustic Stimulation, Neuropsychological Tests, and paired associate learning
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We examined the hypothesis that older... more
We examined the hypothesis that older adults' deficits in contextual memory result from difficulties in contending with partial encoding-to-retrieval changes in the context. We measured effects of contextual change and constancy on recognition memory for words, in older and younger adults. We assessed the ability to adjust to partial contextual changes by manipulating encoding-retrieval context similarity: identical, new and unrelated, conceptually similar, or perceptually similar. For both older and younger adults, identical and conceptually similar contexts benefited recognition of target words, whereas perceptually similar contexts did not. Older adults did not make more false alarms. In contrast, older adults' direct recognition of contextual stimuli was at chance. These results indicate that retrieval processes, rather than encoding or rigidity in the use of contextual cues, are implicated in older adults' difficulties in memory for contextual information.
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Anxiety and subjective memory complaints (SMC) are major risk factors for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and dementia. However, the association between anxiety, SMC and medical help-seeking due to complaints is not clear. Here, we... more
Anxiety and subjective memory complaints (SMC) are major risk factors for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and dementia. However, the association between anxiety, SMC and medical help-seeking due to complaints is not clear. Here, we assessed anxiety which rose specifically by memory examination and compared it between help-seekers in memory clinics (HS) and non-help seekers (NHS). Twenty HS (60% female) were recruited from a memory Clinic, and 55 NHS (63% female) were recruited from the community. Participants (aged 59-82) completed objective memory assessment, Subjective Memory questionnaire, depression questionnaire and State-Trait Anxiety questionnaire. State-anxiety was assessed immediately following memory testing (indicating anxiety triggered by testing memory). For statistical evaluation, we used non-parametric tests. HS participants reported significantly higher levels of state-anxiety and had more SMC compared to the NHS. No differences in objective memory tests and trait-an...
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Studies have shown that skilled and disabled readers recall central ideas, which are important to the overall comprehension of the text, to a greater extent than peripheral, less important ideas after reading. However, readers with... more
Studies have shown that skilled and disabled readers recall central ideas, which are important to the overall comprehension of the text, to a greater extent than peripheral, less important ideas after reading. However, readers with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) recall significantly fewer central ideas than skilled readers. The present study was designed to examine whether difficulties in identifying, attending, and/or retrieving central ideas underlie their centrality deficit. 28 adult university students with ADHD and 27 control students read three expository texts (successively) to summarize their central ideas, while their eye-movements were recorded. After reading, the participants recalled, recognized, and estimated the centrality level of all text ideas, which were divided into central and peripheral based on pretest ratings. The participants with ADHD recalled fewer central ideas than controls, although they recognized and estimated their centrality to the same extent as controls. Moreover, the participants with ADHD invested more time in rereading central ideas than peripheral ones, to a greater extent than controls. The eye-movement data suggest that our university students with ADHD were aware of the reading task requirements, their difficulties, and the appropriate strategies for coping with them (i.e., rereading central ideas). More importantly, the present findings suggest that readers with ADHD have specific difficulty in retrieving central ideas that are available in their long-term memory. It supports the hypothesis that readers with ADHD establish fewer connections between text ideas during reading, and consequently benefit from a reduced number of retrieval cues after reading.
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Recent evidence shows that compared to experienced drivers, young-inexperienced drivers are more likely to be involved in a crash mainly due to their poor hazard perception (HP) abilities. This skill develops with experience and may be... more
Recent evidence shows that compared to experienced drivers, young-inexperienced drivers are more likely to be involved in a crash mainly due to their poor hazard perception (HP) abilities. This skill develops with experience and may be developed through training. We assumed that as any other skill, HP developed through implicit learning. Nevertheless, current training methods, rely on deliberate learning where young-inexperienced drivers are instructed what hazards that they should seek and where they might be located. In this exploratory study, we investigated the effectiveness of a novel training procedure, in which learners were repeatedly exposed to target video clips of driving scenarios embedded within filler scenarios. Each of the target videos included scenarios of either a visible hazard, a hidden materialized hazard or hidden unmaterialized hazard. Twenty-three young-inexperienced drivers and 35 experienced drivers participated in training session followed by a learning transference testing session and 24 additional young-inexperienced drivers participated only in the transference testing session with no training, during which participants were shown novel hazards video clips. Participants responded by pressing a button when they identified a hazard. Eye movement was also tracked using fixations patterns as a proxy to evaluate HP performance. During training, young-inexperienced drivers gradually increased their focus on visible materialized hazards but exhibited no learning curve with respect to hidden hazards. During the learning transference session, both trained groups focused on hazards earlier compared to untrained drivers. These results imply that repetitive training may facilitate HP acquisition among young-inexperienced drivers. Patterns concerning experienced drivers are also discussed.
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Contemporary research literature indicates that eye movements during the learning and testing phases can predict and affect future recognition processes. Nevertheless, only partial information exists regarding eye movements in the various... more
Contemporary research literature indicates that eye movements during the learning and testing phases can predict and affect future recognition processes. Nevertheless, only partial information exists regarding eye movements in the various components of recognition processes: Hits, Correct rejections, Misses and False Alarms (FA). In an attempt to address this issue, participants in this study viewed human faces in a yes/no recognition memory paradigm. They were divided into two groups - one group that carried out the testing phase immediately after the learning phase (n = 30) and another group with a 15-minute delay between phases (n = 28). The results showed that the Immediate group had a lower FA rate than the Delay group, and that no Hit rate differences were observed between the two groups. Eye movements differed between the recognition processes in the learning and the testing phases, and this pattern interacted with the group type. Hence, eye movement measures seem to track me...
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Persons with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) are at high Alzheimer's Disease (AD) risk but the development of sensitive measures to assess subtle cognitive decline in this population poses a major challenge for clinicians and... more
Persons with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) are at high Alzheimer's Disease (AD) risk but the development of sensitive measures to assess subtle cognitive decline in this population poses a major challenge for clinicians and researchers. Eye movement monitoring is a non-invasive, sensitive way to assess subtle cognitive processes in clinical populations. We conducted a critical review and a meta-analysis of the literature on pro and antisaccade paradigm in AD/MCI. The meta-analysis included 20 studies, all of which used the prosaccade paradigm and 13 of which studied the antisaccade paradigm as well. Our meta-analysis showed that AD but not MCI patients showed longer prosaccade latencies when compared to controls. While antisaccade latencies did not differentiate between patients from controls, antisaccade error rate were significantly increased among patients in comparison to controls in over 87% of the studies. These findings highlight antisaccade error rate as a reliable too...
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Integrative research review infers generalizations about a substantive subject, summarizes the accumulated knowledge that research has left unresolved and generates a new framework on these issues. Due to methodological issues emerging... more
Integrative research review infers generalizations about a substantive subject, summarizes the accumulated knowledge that research has left unresolved and generates a new framework on these issues. Due to methodological issues emerging from working memory (WM) studies in the population with non-specific intellectual disability (NSID) (N=64) between 1990-2014, it is difficult to conclude on WM performance in this population. This integrative research review aimed to resolve literature conflicts on WM performance among individuals with NSID and to identify the conditions/moderators that govern their WM performance compared to controls with Typical development. We used the six stages of integrative research review: problem formulation, data collection, evaluation, data analysis, results, interpretation and discussion. The findings indicate two types of moderators that determine WM performance in the population with NSID: Participants' moderators (criteria for matching the ID and TD...
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. Various tools have been designed to classify the wholistic/analytic cognitive style, based mostly on behavioral data that reveals little about how these processes function. The main goal of this study is to characterize patterns of eye... more
. Various tools have been designed to classify the wholistic/analytic cognitive style, based mostly on behavioral data that reveals little about how these processes function. The main goal of this study is to characterize patterns of eye movements (EM) that are typical of learners with tendencies toward wholistic/analytic styles. Forty students completed the E-CSA-W/A test, while their EM were simultaneously monitored. The results revealed that the overall response time of the wholist group was lower in both tasks. The differences in response time between the groups are interpreted as being influenced by impulsive/reflective styles. While the behavioral data provide us with the end result and quantitative differences between the groups, EM provide us with the qualitative information about the process that led to the response. The study showed that the wholist group is characterized by less fixations and transitions than the analytic group, which is interpreted as reflecting use of whole/partial strategy.
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This study was conducted in order to investigate the possibility that effortful processes are involved in the retrieval stage of the putative automatic task-frequency judgment. Head-injured (HI) and control groups were tested on a... more
This study was conducted in order to investigate the possibility that effortful processes are involved in the retrieval stage of the putative automatic task-frequency judgment. Head-injured (HI) and control groups were tested on a frequency of occurrence task under explicit-intentional retrieval (i.e., frequency estimation) and implicit-unintentional retrieval (i.e., word-stem priming) conditions. Subjects were presented with a list of nouns that appeared once, three times, and six times. Following presentation, subjects were first given a priming task, then a recall task, and finally a frequency judgment task. Although the control group performed better than the HI group on recall and frequency judgment tasks, the groups did not differ on the priming task. The results are discussed in terms of the relationship between effortful and automatic memory processes.
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ABSTRACT The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) has been found to be differentially affected by age, intelligence, and population type. However, previous studies did not specifically report which scores differentiate between age... more
ABSTRACT The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) has been found to be differentially affected by age, intelligence, and population type. However, previous studies did not specifically report which scores differentiate between age groups. Five hundred and twenty-eight males and females, ranging in age from 21 to 91 years, were administered the Hebrew version of the Rey AVLT. Resulting norms are, therefore, based upon a very large sample of males and females. In addition, findings provide a detailed description of the differential sensitivity of 22 extracted scores on six sequential age groups. Some of these scores were found to be sensitive to age, whereas others were not. The results also show a significant and consistent advantage for females over males on most of the verbal memory measures. The pattern of verbal memory change until the age of 60 years is moderate, as compared to the changes observed from the age of 60 onward. This type of analysis contributes to both the validity of the Rey AVLT, and to its usefulness as a diagnostic tool.
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Assessed long-term effects of assisted reproduction technologies of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and related techniques of embryo transfer (ET) on children's adjustment. 51 school-age Israeli children conceived by IVF/ET were... more
Assessed long-term effects of assisted reproduction technologies of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and related techniques of embryo transfer (ET) on children's adjustment. 51 school-age Israeli children conceived by IVF/ET were compared with 51 control-matched children conceived spontaneously. The assessment included a comprehensive medical evaluation, a psychological examination, teachers' reports, parents' reports, and children's self-reports. As compared with controls, IVF/ET children did not reveal significant differences in physical and neurological status or on cognitive measures of IQ, visual-motor coordination, visual memory, and verbal comprehension. Nevertheless, the IVF/ET children were scored lower by teachers on measures of socioemotional adjustment in school and on self-report measures of anxiety, aggression, and depression. Among IVF/ET children, the tendency to be at a greater risk for emotional disturbances was exacerbated among boys and among children whose parents were older.
Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Intelligence, Personality Assessment, Clinical Child Psychology, and 15 morePregnancy, Humans, Child, Female, Clinical, Male, Infant, Developmental disabilities, Embryo Transfer, Social Adjustment, Fertilization in Vitro, Cognition disorders, Child preschool, Child behavior disorders, and Affective symptoms
Memory deficits are a common sequelae following childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI), which often have serious implications on age-related academic skills. The current study examined verbal memory performance using the Rey Auditory... more
Memory deficits are a common sequelae following childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI), which often have serious implications on age-related academic skills. The current study examined verbal memory performance using the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) in a pediatric TBI sample. Verbal memory abilities as well as the effect of age at-testing on performance were examined. A sample of 67 children following severe TBI (age average = 12.3 ± 2.74) and 67 matched controls were evaluated using the RAVLT. Age effect at assessment was examined using two age groups: above and below 12 years of age during evaluation. Differences between groups were examined via the 9 RAVLT learning trials and the 7 composite scores conducted out of them. Children following TBI recalled significantly less words than controls on all RAVLT trials and had significantly lower scores on all composite scores. However, all of these scores fell within the low average range. Further analysis revealed significantly lower than average performance among the older children (above 12 years), while scores of the younger children following TBI fell within average limits. To conclude, verbal memory deficits among children following severe TBI demonstrate an age-at-testing effect with more prominent problems occurring above 12 years at the time of evaluation. Yet, age-appropriate performance among children below 12 years of age may not accurately describe memory abilities at younger ages following TBI. It is therefore recommended that clinicians address child's age at testing and avoid using a single test as an indicator of verbal memory functioning post TBI.
Research Interests: Adolescent, Memory, Humans, Child, Female, and 13 moreMale, Child Neuropsychology, Age Factors, Verbal Memory, Memory Disorders, Predictive value of tests, Verbal Learning, Brain injuries, Severity of Illness Index, Neuropsychological Tests, Child preschool, Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, and Medical and Health Sciences
This is an invited paper for a special issue on international perspectives on training and practice in clinical neuropsychology. We provide a review of the status of clinical neuropsychology in Israel, including the history of... more
This is an invited paper for a special issue on international perspectives on training and practice in clinical neuropsychology. We provide a review of the status of clinical neuropsychology in Israel, including the history of neuropsychological, educational, and accreditation requirements to become a clinical neuropsychologist and to practice clinical neuropsychology. The information is based primarily on the personal knowledge of the authors who have been practicing clinical neuropsychology for over three decades and hold various administrative and academic positions in this field. Second, we conducted three ad hoc surveys among clinical and rehabilitation psychologists; heads of academic programs for rehabilitation and neuropsychology; and heads of accredited service providers. Third, we present a literature review of publications by clinical neuropsychologists in Israel. Most of the clinical neuropsychologists are graduates of either rehabilitation or clinical training programs. The vast majority of neuropsychologists are affiliated with rehabilitation psychology. The training programs (2-3 years of graduate school) provide solid therapeutic and diagnostic skills to the students. Seventy-five percent of the participants in this survey are employed at least part-time by public or state-funded institutions. Israeli neuropsychologists are heavily involved in case management, including vocational counseling, and rehabilitation psychotherapy. Conclusions and future goals: Although clinical neuropsychologists in Israel are well educated and valued by all health professionals, there are still several challenges that must be addressed in order to further advance the field and the profession. These included the need for Hebrew-language standardized and normalized neuropsychological tests and the application of evidence-based interventions in neuropsychological rehabilitation.
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The Serial Reaction Time (SRT) task has generated a very large amount of research. Nevertheless the debate continues as to the exact cognitive processes underlying implicit sequence learning. Thus, the first goal of this study is to... more
The Serial Reaction Time (SRT) task has generated a very large amount of research. Nevertheless the debate continues as to the exact cognitive processes underlying implicit sequence learning. Thus, the first goal of this study is to elucidate the underlying cognitive processes enabling sequence acquisition. We therefore compared reaction time (RT) in sequence learning in a standard manual activated (MA) to an ocular activated (OA) version of the task, within a single experimental setting. The second goal is to use eye movement measures to compare anticipation, as an additional indication of sequence learning, between the two versions of the SRT. Performance of the group given the MA version of the task (n = 29) was compared with that of the group given the OA version (n = 30). The results showed that although overall, RT was faster for the OA group, the rate of sequence learning was similar to that of the MA group performing the standard version of the SRT. Because the S-R associati...
Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Visual perception, Adolescent, Humans, and 12 moreFemale, Male, Reaction Time, Young Adult, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Eye Movements, Adult, Analysis of Variance, Psychomotor Performance, Statistics as Topic, Neuropsychological Tests, and photic stimulation
Physical and psychosocial rehabilitation following spinal cord injury (SCI) leans heavily on learning and practicing new skills. However, despite research relating motor sequence learning to spinal cord activity and clinical observations... more
Physical and psychosocial rehabilitation following spinal cord injury (SCI) leans heavily on learning and practicing new skills. However, despite research relating motor sequence learning to spinal cord activity and clinical observations of impeded skill-learning after SCI, implicit procedural learning following spinal cord damage has not been examined. To test the hypothesis that spinal cord injury (SCI) in the absence of concomitant brain injury is associated with a specific implicit motor sequence learning deficit that cannot be explained by depression or impairments in other cognitive measures. Ten participants with SCI in T1-T11, unharmed upper limb motor and sensory functioning, and no concomitant brain injury were compared to ten matched control participants on measures derived from the serial reaction time (SRT) task, which was used to assess implicit motor sequence learning. Explicit generation of the SRT sequence, depression, and additional measures of learning, memory, an...
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ABSTRACT Learning and retention of procedural versus declarative memory tasks were examined with 26 young adults with mild mental retardation and 27 school children matched for MA. Results revealed a similar pattern of task performance.... more
ABSTRACT Learning and retention of procedural versus declarative memory tasks were examined with 26 young adults with mild mental retardation and 27 school children matched for MA. Results revealed a similar pattern of task performance. Performance of the young adults with mild mental retardation was inferior to that of the control subjects on both types of tasks. However, learning rate and retention over time were comparable, thereby maintaining the control group's consistent advantage throughout all repeated trials. These results are consistent with previous findings for individual's with mental retardation tested on memory and problem-solving tasks. Theoretical implications of this pattern of results for individuals with mild mental retardation were discussed.
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The memory changes associated with age are attributed to the deterioration of the frontal lobes, as well as to the middle temporal structures. Therefore, in addition to a decline in memory for facts and events, as found impaired in... more
The memory changes associated with age are attributed to the deterioration of the frontal lobes, as well as to the middle temporal structures. Therefore, in addition to a decline in memory for facts and events, as found impaired in amnesics, a memory decline associated with age is predicted for tasks typically found impaired in frontal lobe patients (i.e., temporal order judgment). There are conflicting findings concerning whether indirect measures of memory for facts and events are associated with age. However, there are no studies that address this issue with regard to temporal order judgment. Thirty younger and thirty older adults were tested on a list of words which was repeated five times in fixed or varying order. The number of words recalled, as well as their temporal judgments, were the direct measure of memory. The effect of consistency of order of presentation on the number of words recalled was the indirect measure of memory for temporal order. Results suggest that direct, but not the indirect measures of memory were related to age.