Speeded performance following head injury in children.

Fifty-one children who has sustained head injuries were divided into mildly, moderately and severely injured groups according to neurological criteria. The groups were matched for age, sex, and injury-test interval. Approximately 1 year after their injuries, patients were tested on speeded and nonspeeded measures of motor, visual-motor, and visual-spatial functioning as well as on the WISC-R. The performance of the mildly and moderately injured groups was similar, with both groups performing significantly faster than the severely injured group on measures of speeded performance. There were few significant differences between groups on measures requiring little speed. In contrast to the results for the other two groups, the severely head-injured group performed significantly worse on the highly speeded tests than on the low speed tests. The findings are discussed in relation to the literature on the cognitive sequelae of head injuries.