Date of Award

1996

Publication Type

Master Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Department

Psychology

Keywords

Psychology, Clinical.

Supervisor

Shore, Douglas,

Rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Abstract

The Design Fluency Test (DFT) requires the invention of abstract designs within a limited amount of time. There are two conditions of the test: a free condition without restrictions and a fixed condition where designs must consist of exactly four lines. DFT performance was investigated for healthy controls (n = 66), left temporal lobectomy patients (n = 44), right temporal lobectomy patients (n = 40), right frontal resection patients (n = 8) and left frontal resection patients (n = 1). Groups of individuals with frontal resections were too small to include in data analyses. Each participant in the control group completed a battery of measures sensitive to verbal fluency/production, visuospatial skills, visual attention, psychomotor speed, and level of psychometric intelligence. Regression analyses demonstrated that performance on these measures was not able to predict DFT score in the free condition, although combinations of these skills were related to output in the fixed condition. Inter-rater reliability among 3 raters for 44 DFT protocols was generally good to excellent, although nameable errors and designs with the incorrect number of lines yielded poorer reliability coefficients. The right and left temporal lobectomy patients committed significantly more nameable errors in the free condition of the DFT than controls, but there were no differences among groups on indices of perseveration or novel output scores. DFT performance did not differ between pre-operative and post-operative assessment for groups with right or left temporal lobectomies. The results of this study do not discredit the clinical use of the DFT as a measure sensitive to possible right frontal-lobe dysfunction. Future research should address the possible contribution of "creativity" or divergent thought to DFT performance and the replication of group differences for nameable errors on the DFT.Dept. of Psychology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1996 .C37. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 37-01, page: 0363. Adviser: Douglas Shore. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1996.

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