ERIC Number: EJ1384637
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1368-2822
EISSN: EISSN-1460-6984
The Role of Verbal Short-Term Memory in Complex Sentence Comprehension: An Observational Study on Aphasia
Gilardone, Giulia; ViganĂ², Mauro; Costantini, Giulio; Monti, Alessia; Corbo, Massimo; Cecchetto, Carlo; Papagno, Costanza
International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, v58 n4 p1182-1190 Jul-Aug 2023
Background: The comprehension profile of people with agrammatism is a debated topic. Syntactic complexity and cognitive resources, in particular phonological short-term memory (pSTM), are considered as crucial components by different interpretative accounts. Aim: To investigate the interaction of syntactic complexity and of pSTM in sentence comprehension in a group of persons with aphasia with and without agrammatism. Methods & Procedures: A cohort of 30 participants presenting with aphasia was assessed for syntactic comprehension and for pSTM. A total of 15 presented with agrammatism and 15 had fluent aphasia. Outcomes & Results: Linear nested mixed-model analyses revealed a significant interaction between sentence type and pSTM. In particular, participants with lower pSTM scores showed a reduced comprehension of centre-embedded object relatives and long coordinated sentences. Moreover, a significant interaction was found between sentence type and agrammatism, with a lower performance for passives within the agrammatic group. Conclusions & Implications: These results confirm that pSTM is involved in the comprehension of complex structures with an important computational load, in particular coordinated sentences, and long-distance filler gap dependencies. On the contrary, the specific deficit of the agrammatic group with passives is a pure syntactic deficit, with no involvement of pSTM.
Descriptors: Informed Consent, Aphasia, Short Term Memory, Verbal Communication, Verbal Stimuli, Sentences, Comprehension, Difficulty Level, Observation, Interaction, Grammar, Control Groups
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2191/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Data File: URL: https://osf.io/6xw7y/?view_only=7f033c99deda489eba71c2f22ffd00d0