Neuropsicologia Latinoamericana
On-line version ISSN 2075-9479
Abstract
Complementary procedure of conversational discourse analysis. Neuropsicologia Latinoamericana [online]. 2015, vol.7, n.3, pp.13-27. ISSN 2075-9479. https://doi.org/10.5579/rnl.2013.0275.
Conversational discourse processing is one of the most complex daily human tasks, due to its high demand on cognitive control and communicative abilities, besides its essential role in social relationships. Conversational analysis may provide the health professional important information regarding the profile of neurological and psychiatric patients' cognitive functioning, mainly in the neuropsychological clinic. Historically, discourse assessment aimed at studying quantifications that do not represent the patients' actual difficulties, once, in the majority of cases, they were centered in the number of words, clauses, length of sentences, among other aspects. Thus, the aim of this article is presenting the construction of the Complementary procedure of conversational discourse analysis (CPCDA). The five stages of development and necessary adaptations judged by the judges involved (n=4 experts) will be described, from the analysis offered in the subtest of the Conversational discourse from the Montreal Battery of Communication Assessment - abbreviated version - Brief MAC Battery (MAC B), and from the theoretical model proposed by Van Dijk on the discourse adapted to the conversational context in an online and steady manner. Moreover, a pilot study will be presented to illustrate the applicability of the CPCDA, which included as participants n=2 expert judges and n=20 participants (20% belonging to the clinical group with cranioencephalic traumatism and 80% belonging to the control group - healthy participants). Finally, there will be a comparison of the results with the reference task of MAC B. The final protocol is composed by 44 items, which aid the clinician to identify the frequency of deviant behaviors. There was 83,59% score agreement among judges. This complementary method of discourse examination may contribute to deepen the qualification of deviation behaviors, this way aiding to functional diagnosis of neuropsycholinguistic assessment and to the planning of more specific and effective tasks in communicative rehabilitation.
Keywords : Neuropsychology; Conversational discourse; Discourse production; Communication.