OBJECTIVE. We compared the pattern of cognitive deficits exhibited by people with schizophrenia at Allen Cognitive Level (ACL) 4 with that of people at Level 5. METHOD. Participants were classified into two groups on the basis of their ACL Screen scores: ACL 4 (n = 35) and ACL 5 (n = 41). We assessed cognitive functions and psychotic symptoms in all participants. RESULTS. Multivariate analysis of covariance controlling for gender and negative symptoms revealed that people at ACL 4 performed significantly worse than those at ACL 5 on processing speed, verbal memory, and working memory. The discriminant analysis with all cognitive variables produced a classification accuracy of 78% in differentiation of cognitive levels. CONCLUSION. We verified the validity of the hierarchy of cognitive disability for ACLs 4 and 5 in people with schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE. This quasi-experimental study compared the effect of sensory integrative (SI) therapy, neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT), and perceptual–motor (PM) approach on children with mild mental retardation. METHOD. Children (N = 120) were randomly assigned to intervention with SI, NDT, or PM; another 40 children served as control participants. All children were assessed with measures of sensorimotor function. RESULTS. After intervention, the treatment groups significantly outperformed the control group on almost all measures. The SI group demonstrated a greater pretest–posttest change on fine motor, upper-limb coordination, and SI functioning. The PM group showed significant gains in gross motor skills, whereas the NDT group had the smallest change in most measures. CONCLUSION. SI, NDT, and PM improved sensorimotor function among children with mild mental retardation. The choice of sensorimotor approaches should be determined on the basis of the child's particular needs because each approach may have an advantage in certain aspects of sensorimotor function.

OBJECTIVE. This study sought to determine the psychometric properties for the Loewenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment–Second Edition (LOTCA–II) in a population of persons with schizophrenia. METHOD. Sixty-four participants with schizophrenia were administered the LOTCA–II at baseline, and 43 of these were randomly selected to undertake four more standardized measures of cognitive and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) functions to test convergent validity. One week later, 48 randomly selected participants from the total sample were readministered the LOTCA–II to determine test–retest reliability. RESULTS. Substantial ceiling effects existed in 96% of LOTCA–II items. Cronbach’s alpha for all six sub-tests ranged from .20 to .91; the alpha for the global scale was .90. Intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from .49 to .89 for the subtests and .95 for the full LOTCA–II. Low to moderate correlations were found between LOTCA–II total score and scores on cognitive and IADL measures. No overall significant differences in subtest scores were found across participants differing in employment status. CONCLUSION. LOTCA–II performance is best interpreted in the context of total score. Further revision of the test items is recommended for a more reliable and valid use of the LOTCA–II in persons with schizophrenia.

Objectives. The purposes of this study were to (a) investigate whether older subjects with brain damage score lower on the Test of Visual-Perceptual Skills (TVPS) than control subjects without brain damage matched for age and education, (b) determine the demographic effects on test performance in both groups, and (c) determine the capacity of TVPS in identifying visual-perceptual deficits in adults with brain damage. Method. The study sample consisted of 22 subjects with cerebrovascular accident (CVA) and 155 subjects who were neurologically intact (control group). The TVPS was administered individually to each subject. Raw scores (total response time and accuracy) were analyzed to generate descriptive statistics. Other statistical analyses included analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, discriminant analysis, and Pearson product–moment correlations. Results. There were significant between-group differences on all TVPS measures, with control subjects performing better than subjects with CVA. Age was shown to affect performance on most subtests of the TVPS in the control group. Education had significant influence over each measure, whereas gender differences were significant only in two subtests. No demographic effects were found in the group with CVA. The total TVPS accuracy score was the most powerful discriminator between the two groups, correctly classifying 74.4% of the subjects. Finally, the total accuracy score inversely correlated with total time score. Conclusion. The TVPS may be useful in screening for visual-perceptual impairments in adults with CVA. Age, gender, and educational level have no significant impact on the magnitude of visual-perceptual dysfunctions.