Journal of Paramedical Sciences & Rehabilitation

Journal of Paramedical Sciences & Rehabilitation

Executive Functions in Four Areas of sustained Attention, Auditory working Memory, Reaction time, and Response Control in Children with Childhood Onset Fluency Disorder

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
H Salehian Boroujerdi 1
H Ashayeri 2
A.H Mehryar 3
1 Department of Psychology, Faculty of human Sciences, Islamic Azad university, Saveh, Iran
2 ِDepartment of rehabilitation, Faculty of Rehabilitation and Welfare Sciences, Iran university of Medical Sciences, Tehran, iran
3 Department of Psychology, institute of Management and Planning, Tehran, Iran
10.22038/jpsr.2020.37518.1897
Abstract
Purpose: 
According to several studies, people with childhood onset fluency disorder show differences in executive functions compared with normal peers. The purpose of this study was assessment of 7-12 years old children with childhood onset fluency disorder and in four areas of executive functions including sustained attention, Auditory working memory, reaction time and response control.
Methods: 
This research was a comparative study. Twenty children with childhood onset fluency disorder and 20 normal children were selected through Speech Therapy Centers and schools in Tehran. They were tested by auditory (N BACK) to measure auditory working memory, continuous performance test (CPT) to evaluate sustained attention and reaction time and the go / no go test to measure response control. Also, the severity of non-fluency was measured by using the percent syllables stuttered. The results were analyzed by independent T-test and Walsh test.
Results: 
The results showed the significant differences between children with childhood onset fluency disorder and normal peers in the areas of ​​sustained attention (p=0.019), auditory working memory (p=0.038) and response control (p=0.033). However, no difference was observed between the scores of children with childhood onset fluency disorder and normal children in the area of ​​reaction time (p= 0.329) (p>0.05)
Conclusion: 
The results showed that children with childhood onset fluency disorder are weaker in three areas of executive functions such as sustained attention, auditory working memory, and response control in comparison with their normal peers.
Keywords
Childhood onset fluency disorder
Executive functions
Sustained attention
Auditory working memory
Reaction time
Response control 
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Journal of Paramedical Sciences & Rehabilitation
Volume 8, Issue 4
Winter 2020
Pages 16-25