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Deficits in comprehension of speech acts after TBI: The role of theory of mind and executive function
Citation
Honan, CA and McDonald, S and Gowland, A and Fisher, A and Randall, RK, Deficits in comprehension of speech acts after TBI: The role of theory of mind and executive function, Brain and Language, 150 pp. 69-79. ISSN 0093-934X (2015) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2015 Elsevier Inc.
DOI: doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2015.08.007
Abstract
Theory of mind (ToM) is critical to effective communication following traumatic brain injury (TBI)
however, whether impairments are specific to social cognition, or reflective of executive demands is
unclear. This study examined whether ToM impairments are predicted by executive function difficulties
using everyday conversation tasks. Twenty-five individuals with severe-TBI were compared to 25 healthy
controls on low- and high-ToM tasks across four conditions: (1) low cognitive load, (2) high flexibility, (3)
high working memory (WM) and (4) high inhibition. TBI individuals were impaired on high-ToM tasks in
the WM condition. When the WM demands of the task were controlled, the impairments were no longer
apparent. TBI individuals were not impaired on high-ToM tasks in the inhibition and flexibility
conditions, suggesting these tasks may not have been sufficiently demanding of ToM abilities. The results
suggest that ToM impairments in everyday communication may arise due to WM demands, in individuals
with TBI.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
---|---|
Research Division: | Psychology |
Research Group: | Biological psychology |
Research Field: | Behavioural neuroscience |
Objective Division: | Health |
Objective Group: | Clinical health |
Objective Field: | Clinical health not elsewhere classified |
UTAS Author: | Honan, CA (Dr Cynthia Honan) |
ID Code: | 104544 |
Year Published: | 2015 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 28 |
Deposited By: | Psychology |
Deposited On: | 2015-11-16 |
Last Modified: | 2017-11-01 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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