REPEATED USE OF THE BENDER GESTALT TEST IN A STUDY OF AN INDUCED TOXIC STATE.

Abstract

The Bender Gestalt Test was used to study the effects of an induced toxic state, ammonia intoxication, on Gestalt formation. In one experiment, an ammonium acetate vs placebo infusion cross-over design, an order effect was found in the third test period after 180 min. of infusion. Those Ss who received the ammonia infusion first did worse than they did with a later placebo, while the performance of those who received ammonia after placebo infusion was not impaired. A second experiment, in which there were no infusions, was then performed to study the effect of practice alone on the Bender Gestalt Test. No significant practice effect was found. It is then suggested that an order effect is due to hyperammonemia, or ammonia intoxication blocking accurate perception, integration of the percepts, and the recording of integrated percepts. This effect of hyperammonemia is also adduced to explain the disorientation in clinical states of ammonia intoxication such as hepatic coma.