The importance of the intraverbal relation is missed in most theories of language. Skinner (1957) attributes this to traditional semantic theories of meaning that focus on the nonverbal referents of words and neglect verbal stimuli as separate sources of control for linguistic behavior. An analysis of verbal stimulus control is presented, along…

Background: Communication partner training (CPT) has been shown to improve the communicative environment of people with aphasia. Interaction-focused training is one type of training that provides an individualized intervention to participants. Although shown to be effective, outcomes have mostly been evaluated in non-experimental case studies.…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop and pilot a novel treatment framework called "BEARS" (Balancing Effort, Accuracy, and Response Speed). People with aphasia (PWA) have been shown to maladaptively balance speed and accuracy during language tasks. BEARS is designed to train PWA to balance speed-accuracy trade-offs and…

Illness narratives may be told in various contexts and are reported to be associated with a variety of positive health outcomes, such as fewer doctors' office visits. The story of stroke onset can be highly varied among people without language impairments, seeming to reflect the way the individual is understanding and adapting to living with the…

Health care providers can experience increased diffculty communicating with adult patients during medical interactions when the patients have communication disorders. Meeting the communication needs of these patients can also create unique challenges for providers. The authors explore Communication Accommodation Theory (H. Giles, 1979) as a guide…

Background & Aims: This study ran within the framework of the Thales Aphasia Project that investigated the efficacy of elaborated semantic feature analysis (ESFA). We evaluated the treatment integrity (TI) of ESFA, i.e., the degree to which therapists implemented treatment as intended by the treatment protocol, in two different formats:…

Background: Every language has certain specific idiosyncrasies in its writing system. Cross-linguistic analyses of alexias and agraphias are fundamental to understand commonalities and differences in the brain organization of written language. Few reports of alexias and agraphias in the Spanish language are currently available. Aims: To analyse…

Research on agrammatism has revealed that the nature of linguistic impairment is systematic and interpretable. Non-canonical sentences are more impaired than those of canonical sentences. Previous studies on Japanese (Hiroshi et al. 2004; Chujo 1983; Tamaoka et al. 2003; Nakayama 1995) report that aphasic patients take longer Response Time (RT)…

Background: Discourse assessment and treatment in aphasia rehabilitation is a priority focus for a range of stakeholder groups. However, a significant majority of speech and language therapists (SLTs) infrequently conduct discourse analysis, and do not feel competent in doing so. Known barriers identified in other countries, specifically a lack of…

Background: Stroke is currently the leading cause of long-term disability in adults in the United States. There is a need for accessible, low-cost treatments of stroke-related disabilities such as aphasia. Aims: To explore an intervention for aphasia utilizing mindfulness meditation (MM). This preliminary study examines the feasibility of teaching…

Background: Participation in a group environment is an inherently complex undertaking for people with aphasia. It involves engaging in multi-person interactions with other people who may have a range of communication strengths and strategies at their disposal. The potential challenges of community aphasia-group participation and practice has had…

Purpose: Chronic stress is likely a common experience among people with the language impairment of aphasia. Importantly, chronic stress reportedly alters the neural networks central to learning and memory--essential ingredients of aphasia rehabilitation. Before we can explore the influence of chronic stress on rehabilitation outcomes, we must be…

Resulting from stroke or brain injury, aphasia affects individuals' ability to produce and comprehend language, but it also creates profound social changes, limiting individuals' opportunities to communicate or to be seen as capable of communication. To address these challenges, the field of communicative sciences and disorders (CSD) has sought to…

Purpose: The purpose of this article was to examine how different types of learning experiences affect naming impairment in aphasia. Methods: In 4 people with aphasia with naming impairment, we compared the benefits of naming treatment that emphasized "retrieval practice" (practice retrieving target names from long-term memory) with…

Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a neurodegenerative condition characterized by language and cognitive decline. Word-retrieval deficits are the most common PPA symptom and contribute to impaired spoken expression. Intense semantic interventions show promise for improving word retrieval in people with PPA. In addition, people with PPA may learn…