Rehabilitation of Arithmetical Text Problem Solving

Abstract

The encoding of complex arithmetical text problems is frequently impaired in patients with frontal lesions. Several studies have reported that verbal cues provided by the experimenter can improve these patients' encoding abilities and subsequently their arithmetical problem solving performance. We studied three patients who were in the chronic stage after a severe head trauma and who failed to solve complex arithmetical word problems. A systematic training with a specific cueing technique over eight weeks resulted in substantially improved word problem solving in terms of correctly applied operational steps, but not in terms of correct solutions. The observed training effect was specific for arithmetical word problems and did not extend to other tasks. The results show that the encoding of complex word problems may improve in head trauma patients if sufficient training is given.