Memory test on children and teenagers with stroke history and children with difficulties in scholar learning

Abstract

This study aimed the evaluation of short and long-term memories, as well as working memory, for children and teenagers with stroke history, by comparison of the performance on this group with children and teenagers which claimed difficulty at school, and with those who did not. The instruments applied for data collection were: Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figures, Corsi block-tapping test, RALVT and the WISC-IV subtest on working memory (using digits and sequences of numbers and letters). The subjects that took part in the experience composed a group of 32 children, 7 of them diagnosed in having a stroke history, 10 of them with difficulty in learning, and 15 of them presenting no difficulties, divided in three groups aging between 7 and 15 years, attending elemental and middle school, male and female. The results indicated that both youngsters with a stroke history and those with difficulty at school had a significant low handicap in their memory performance, with a greater loss on working and short-term memories. Furthermore, such results indicate that post-stroke subjects tend to experience greater difficulty in retaining information on memory over the long term, in addition to disturbances in relevant areas concerning the process of education and schooling, such as visuomotor and visuospatial skills. The need to proceed with the study under the short and medium term with the pattern stands out, in order to examine how much of prejudice steps in the process of learning.