Identifier

etd-04082013-213532

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the treatment efficacy of the Attention Process Training (APT; Sohlberg & Mateer, 2005), a therapeutic protocol designed for individuals who have sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI), on a person with Parkinson’s disease to determine if improvement of various attention processes and memory recall could be improved. Methods: We designed a phase I, multiple baseline A1-B-A2-A3, single-subject study with one participant diagnosed with idiopathic PD and self-reported attention impairments. We used Attention Process Training (APT) protocol (Sohlberg & Mateer, 2005) to train attention process 120-minutes per session, one time per week for 6 sessions. Results: The participant demonstrated a large improvement in sustained attention for both percent accuracy (A1 to A2 d=5.196; A1 to A3 d = 13.279; A2 to A3 d=1.443) and timed performance (A1 to A2 d=2.952; A1 to A3 d = 3.153; A2 to A3 d=0.287). While treating sustained attention, we continued to probe selective, alternating and divided attention. Carryover improvement was noted with selective attention percent accuracy (A1 to A2 d=.091; A1 to A3 d=2.817; A2 to A3 d=1.299) and timed performance (A1 to A2 d=.690; A1 to A3 d=1.044; A2 to A3 d=1.598), and divided attention percent accuracy (A1 to A2 d=1.225; A1 to A3 d = 1.225; A2 to A3 d=2.860) and timed performance (A1 to A2 d=2.041; A1 to A3 d = 1.225; A2 to A3 d=1.155). The results of the TEA indicated an improvement or maintenance in the scaled scores of each subtest. Performance increased in the following scores: OSPAN absolute scores, accuracy errors, and math errors; RSPAN speed errors, math errors, and total correct. Discussion: Results demonstrated that training sustained attention using the APT tasks resulted in sizeable effects when delivered at high intensity (120 minutes per session) one time per week for six weeks. We saw improvement on the untrained selective and divided attention, but not alternating attention, which should have been easier, according the APT hierarchy. We cannot generalize these findings. However, the results give us evidence to continue treatment development.

Date

2013

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Donovan, Neila

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.3935

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