Minimal Organicity in Children of Normal Intelligence

Abstract

The present study was designed to determine whether a diagnosis of minimal organicity based on psychological tests would correlate with a diagnosis based on minor neurological signs, and whether psychological test patterns would discriminate between children identified as minimally damaged and those not identified. Fifty subjects, age 7 to 12 years, of average intelligence and without central nervous system pathology, were examined. The WISC and Bender Gestalt were administered by a psychologist, and the children were examined by a neurologist. Agreement was found between the psychological and neurological examinations in 43 cases. On the WISC, subjects identified as minimally damaged did less well on the Coding subtest and on a Perceptual Organization factor. In 21 out of 25 cases, their Bender age (Koppitz norms) was one year or more below their chronological age, as compared with 7 out of 25 in the normal group.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bannatyne, Alex : Diagnosing learning disabilities and writing remedial prescriptions. J. Learning Disabil., 1968, 1, 242–249.

Clawson, Aileen : The Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test for Children. A Manual. Beverly Hills: Western Psychol, Services, 1962.

Cohen, Jacob : The factorial structure of the WISC at ages 7–6, 10–6, and 13–6. J. Consulting Psychology, 1959, 23, 285–299.

Cohn, R. : The neurological study of children with learning disabilities. Exceptional Child., 1964, 31, 179–795.

Denhoff, Eric , Hainsworth, Peter K. , and Siqueland, Marian : The measurement of psychoneurological factors contributing to learning efficiency. J. Learning Disabilities, 1968, 1, 636–644.

Hartlage, Lawrence : Common psychological tests applied to the assessment of brain damage. J. Projective Techniques, 1966, 30, 319–338.

Hertzig, Margaret E. et al. : Neurologic findings in children educationally designated as “brain damaged.” Amer. J. Orthopsychiatry, 1969, 39, 437–446.

Hon, Edward H. : The electronic evaluation of the fetal heart rate. Fetal distress — a working hypothesis. Amer. J. Obstet. Gynec., 1962, 83, 333–353.

Hopkins, Kenneth D. : An empirical analysis of the efficacy of the WISC in the diagnosis of organicity in children of normal intelligence. J. Genetic Psychology, 1964, 105, 163–172.

10.

Klatskin, Ethelyn H. : Relationships of deficits in intelligence test performance of preschool children to perinatal experience. J. Consulting Psychology, 1964, 28, 228–233.

11.

Koppitz, Elizabeth M. : The Bender Gestalt Test for Young Children. New York: Grune & Stratton, 1964.

12.

Ozer, Mark N. : The neurological evaluation of school-age children. J. Learning Disabil., 1963, 1, 84–87.

13.

Quast, W. : The Bender Gestalt: a clinical study of children's records. J. Consulting Psychology, 1961, 25, 405–408.

14.

Wechsler, David : Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. New York: Psychol. Corp., 1969.