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Abstract
The researchers examined the effect of cognitive flexibility, image contextualization, and prompt type on accuracy and speed when adults with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) navigated dynamic screen augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interfaces. Eighteen participants formed two groups based on cognitive flexibility status. Given matching informative versus uninformative prompts and three image contextualization conditions, participants located words on 3-level AAC systems. ANOVA computations revealed differences between groups and between prompt types for navigation accuracy; differences occurred among image conditions and between prompt types for navigation speed. Analyses using responses from participants with cognitive flexibility challenges revealed inter-subject variability regarding error types. Overall, findings suggest cognitive flexibility may predict who may and may not need explicit training to master AAC device navigation.
Acknowledgements
This research was performed as part of the first author's doctoral dissertation. The research was supported in part by the Barkley Trust and by the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Communication Enhancement (AAC-RERC), which is funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education under grant number H133E080011.
Declaration of interest: The opinions contained in this dissertation are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Education.