Verbal rehearsal and memory in children with closed head injury: a quantitative and qualitative analysis

Nine closed head injured (CRI) children (mean age = 11.4 years) with post-onset intervals of seven months to eight years were studied. The CRI children ranged from mild-moderate to severely impaired. Nine normally developing children (mean age = 10.9 years) served as controls. An overt rehearsal free recall task was used. Subjects were instructed to "think aloud" following presentation of each item to-be-recalled. Quantitative analyses suggested impaired verbal recall and inefficient, passive rehearsal strategy use in severely injured subjects. Mild-moderate subjects performed similarly to controls and exhibited active rehearsal strategy use. Qualitative analysis revealed differences between CRI subjects and controls' range of rehearsal strategies, monitoring and metamemory. Implications for clinical assessment and intervention with respect to use of rehearsal strategies are discussed.