Publication Date

1-1-2016

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Mayer, Jamie F.

Degree Name

B.S. (Bachelor of Science)

Legacy Department

School of Allied Health and Communicative Disorders

Abstract

The current study aimed to investigate the cumulative effects of concussions on auditory processing and other higher-level cognitive processes in a preliminary trial hoping to inform future research in which a larger sample can be obtained. A quasi-experimental design was used; participants were divided based on whether they had a history of concussion. Participants were measured on one auditory task and two verbal tests over the course of three trials during a semester. The non-concussion group showed performance improvements for each subtest within the Color-word interference test, whereas performance for the participant with concussion (P1) stayed the same or had marginal improvements. P1’s number of correct responses remained the same across trials, while the non-concussion group’s performance decreased or showed insignificant improvement on the Verbal fluency test. All participants were able to attain perfect scores on the auditory task by the third trial, but P1 exhibited worse initial performance. The healthy controls showed repeated practice effects on a subset of the tasks, but the participant with a history of concussion did not show these effects. This suggests there are subtle performance differences between individuals with and without a history of concussion that may be identifiable with specific, repeated behavioral tasks.

Extent

24 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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