Date of Award
1995
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Psychology
Abstract
The present study was designed to investigate the ability of persons with Dementia of the Alzheimer's Type (DAT) to associate meaning to sound. More specifically it addressed the question: will verbal and nonverbal scores on a sound task discriminate between subjects with Dementia of the Alzheimer's Type (DAT), depressed elderly, and elderly controls? The group of depressed subjects was included because of the differential diagnosis problems between DAT and depression in the elderly. A total of 120 subjects, 40 per group, participated in this study (N = 120). The DAT group was significantly older (78.02) than the elderly depressed (70.2) and the elderly controls (69.95). Males (N = 70; 58.3%) significantly outnumbered the females (N = 50; 41.7%) with the greatest difference in the elderly depressed group which included 8 females (20.0%) and 32 males (47.5%). A stepwise multiple discriminant analysis yielded significant results. The predictor variables of verbal responses, nonverbal responses, and age were significant predictors of group membership in that order of importance. The independent variables discriminated significantly between the DAT group and the two remaining groups; however, they did not significantly discriminate between the depressed group and the controls. The results also yielded a significant discriminant function which provided more accurate classification ability than would be expected by chance. A major conclusion drawn from this study was that individuals with DAT do not verbally express an associated meaning with complex sounds as well as depressed elderly or elderly controls. In addition, individuals with DAT have less ability than depressed elderly or elderly controls to associate sound to appropriate visual stimuli. Finally, elderly depressed individuals do not differ significantly from elderly nondepressed individuals in their ability to associate meaning to complex sounds. Implications for use of the sound task as a diagnostic tool and as a cognitive rehabilitation exercise are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Hanner, Linda J., "Utilization Of A Sound Task To Differentiate Dementia Of The Alzheimer'S Type, Depressed Elderly, And Elderly Controls" (1995). All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 920.
https://scholars.indianastate.edu/etds/920