Effect of middle ear pathology on selected psychoeducational measures following surgical treatment

24 children surgically treated for pathology of the middle ear and 24 matched control children having histories without problems with ears or school were compared on the Slosson Intelligence Test, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, the Block Design subtest of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Form R, the Spelling subtest of the Wide Range Achievement Test, the Spelling and Reading Recognition subtests of the Peabody Individual Achievement Test, and the Goldman-Fristoe-Woodcock Test of Auditory Discrimination. The surgical group scored similarly to the control children on six of the eight tests, but significantly lower on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and the Block Design subtest of the Wechsler scale. Longitudinal research comparing similar groups of children is recommended.