Constructional praxis and visual perception in school children

Abstract

ASSESSED THE ROLE OF VISUAL PERCEPTION IN THE PERFORMANCE OF CERTAIN CONSTRUCTIONAL PRAXIS TASKS BY 2ND-GRADE CHILDREN. A PERCEPTUAL HYPOTHESIS FOLLOWED THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY D. DENNY-BROWN (SEE 33:3) THAT CONSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITY IS A MOTOR EXPRESSION OF THE VISUOPERCEPTIVE LEVEL. AN ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS, THE "CONNECTION" HYPOTHESIS, FOLLOWED THE VIEW OF KLEIST THAT CONSTRUCTURAL APRAXIA RESULTS FROM AN IMPAIRMENT OF THE LINKAGE BETWEEN THE VISUAL PERCENT AND THE CORRESPONDING MOTOR PERFORMANCE. GOOD AND POOR PERCEIVERS, MATCHED WITH RESPECT TO VERBAL INTELLIGENCE AND MOTOR COORDINATION, WERE GIVEN 4 VISUOCONSTRUCTIVE TASKS. RESULTS OF MEAN AND VARIANCE COMPARISONS WERE SUPPORTIVE OF THE PERCEPTUAL HYPOTHESIS. (15 REF.)

Full text

Journal
of
Consulting
and
Clinical Psychology
1968, Vol.
32, No. 2,
186-192
CONSTRUCTIONAL
PRAXIS
AND
VISUAL
PERCEPTION
IN
SCHOOL
CHILDREN1
RICHARD
P.
DOMRATH
Wisconsin
State
University,
Oshkosh
The
present
study
assessed
the
role
of
visual perception
in the
performance
of
certain
constructional praxis tasks
by
2nd-grade children.
A
"perceptual"
hypothesis
followed
the
views expressed
by
Mayer-Gross
and
Denny-Brown
that constructional activity
is
essentially
a
motor expression
of the
visuo-
perceptive
level.
An
alternative hypothesis,
the
"connection"
hypothesis,
fol-
lowed
the
view
of
Kleist that constructional
apraxia
results
from
an
impair-
ment
of the
linkage between
the
visual percept
and the
corresponding motor
performance.
Good
and
poor perceivers, matched with respect
to
verbal intel-
ligence
and
motor coordination, were given
4
visuoconstructive
tasks. Results
of
mean
and
variance comparisons were supportive
of the
perceptual
hy-
pothesis.
The
possibility that
Kleist's
concept might
be
valid
for a
small
proportion
of
cases
was
considered,
and a
suggestion
for
further
research
was
advanced.
Constructional praxis
refers
to
behavior
in
which
parts
are put
together
to
make
a
single
entity
or
object. Such behavior
is
generally
thought
of as
covering those activities
in
which
the
subject makes spatial constructions
with
lines, blocks,
or
sticks.
The
Benton
Visual
Retention
Test
(BVRT),
the
Draw-A-
Man
(DAM)
Test,
and the
Block Design
(BD)
test
are
examples
of the
tests
fre-
quently used
by
psychologists
in the
assess-
ment
of
visuoconstructive performance. These
tests
are
used
as
diagnostic aids
in the
evalua-
tion
of a
wide variety
of
disorders ranging
from
the
reading
or
writing
difficulty
of the
grade-school child
to the
behavioral deficit
commonly observed
in
brain-injured
patients.
Despite
the
wide
and
varied
use of
these
tests
in
clinical
and
educational assessment,
there
has
been
little
research directed toward
evaluating
the
role which perceptual
ability
plays
in the
accomplishment
of
constructional
tasks. Theoretical speculation
as to the
role
of
perception
has
come primarily
from
neuro-
1
Adapted
from
a
doctoral dissertation
at the
Uni-
versity
of
Iowa under
the
direction
of A. L.
Benton,
to
whom
the
author
is
indebted
for his
guidance.
Thanks
are
also extended
to
Wilfred
Jiede
and
Dorothy
Neilson
for
their generous cooperation. This
investigation
was
supported
by
Research
Grant
NB-
00616
and
Program Project Grant NB-03354
from
the
National Institute
of
Neurological Diseases
and
Blindness.
This
study
is
Neurosensory Center Pub-
lication
No.
119.
logical theorists, and,
out of
this thinking,
two
points
of
view have
arisen.
Kleist (1934)
and
Strauss (1924) pub-
lished several cases
to
illustrate
the
inde-
pendence
of an
impairment
in
constructional
praxis (constructional apraxia)
from
other
known
forms
of
apraxia.
The
"pure"
case
of
constructional apraxia
was
said
to
show ade-
quate
form
perception
and
discrimination,
preserved capacity
to
localize objects
in
visual
space,
and no
signs
of
ideomotor
apraxia.
These
investigators specified
that
construc-
tional apraxia
was to be
distinguished
from
rather similar psychomotor
deficits
which
were
clearly
the
result
of
visuoperceptive
disabilities
and
postulated
a
rupture
in the
connections between visual
and
kinesthetic
processes
as
being
the
essential
basis
for the
disorder.
Thus,
for
Kleist
and
Strauss
a
deficit
in
visuoconstructive performance
did not
sug-
gest
the
necessary involvement
of
perceptual
deficit.
In
fact, according
to
these theorists,
perceptual
ability
may be
unimpaired,
with
the
observed constructive
deficit
coming about
through
an
upset
of the
linkage
between
the
intact visual image
of the
object
and the
movement
to be
made.
The
Kleist-Strauss formulation
of the es-
sential nature
of
constructional apraxia
has
not
been widely
accepted.
Mayer-Gross
(1936) implicated
a
perceptual
deficit
when
he
designated constructional apraxia
as an
186