Depth of Processing in Closed Head Injured Patients

Information processing problems in closed head injured (CHI) patients are well documented and manifest on both discourse and neuropsychological assessment. This article describes the use of a fable task with this population and argues that it is a particularly sensitive tool for exploring the communicative and cognitive deficits of such patients. The results of a group of 10 CHI subjects and 12 normal controls are presented on three fable tasks that tapped different levels of processing. Significant differences were found between the CHI subjects and the normal subjects on a rating scale that measured the appropriateness of overall response, as well as on individual operations performed. The results are interpreted in relation to a theory of resource allocation, and therapy implications for this population are highlighted.