Exploring the relationship between proper name anomia and word retrieval: a single case study

We report the results of an investigation of the spoken word retrieval abilities of a patient, BG, with proper name anomia. Our investigations reveal that she is impaired in retrieving common nouns as well as proper names. Common noun retrieval was influenced by age-of-acquisition, word familiarity and name agreement. Cued retrieval of proper names was influenced by age-of-acquisition, although effects of other linguistic variables were not excluded. It is claimed that an explanation in terms of a 'continuum of word retrieval difficulty' rather than of proper names as 'pure referring expressions' can best account for the findings. However, this proposal is unlikely to be able to explain all cases of proper name anomia. Nonetheless, it is suggested that similar findings may be observed in other people with proper name anomia, and that it is necessary for future studies to investigate not only proper name but also common noun retrieval. We also provide evidence that Plausible Phonology and Specificity hypotheses of proper name anomia cannot account for BG's naming abilities.