Sound arithmetic: auditory cues in the rehabilitation of impaired fact retrieval.
The present single case study describes the rehabilitation of an acquired impairment of multiplication fact retrieval. In addition to a conventional drill approach, one set of problems was preceded by auditory cues while the other half was not. After extensive repetition, non-specific improvements could be observed for all trained problems (e.g., 3 * 7) as well as for their non-trained complementary problems (e.g., 7 * 3). Beyond this general improvement, specific therapy effects were found for problems trained with auditory cues. These specific effects were attributed to an involvement of implicit memory systems and/or attentional processes during training. Thus, the present results demonstrate that cues in the training of arithmetic facts do not have to be visual to be effective.
Domahs
Frank
F
Lehr- und Forschungsgebiet Neuropsychologie, Universitätsklinikum der RWTH Aachen, Germany. domahs@neuropsych.rwth-aachen.de
Zamarian
Laura
L
Delazer
Margarete
M
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003463:Cues; D005145:Face; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011340:Problem Solving; D011930:Reaction Time; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D013016:Sound; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology