Response Time Inconsistencies in Object and Action Naming in Anomic Aphasia

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psycholinguistics
• Speech and Language Pathology

Background:

• Anomic aphasia is characterized by difficulties in word retrieval.
• Understanding the impact of repetition on naming in aphasia is crucial for rehabilitation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of repeated naming on object and action picture naming in individuals with anomic aphasia.
• To determine if repeated naming improves accuracy and reduces response latency in this population.

Main Methods:

• Ten individuals with anomic aphasia and six healthy adults participated.
• Participants named sets of object and action pictures across repeated trials.
• Accuracy and response times (RTs) were measured.

Main Results:

• Object naming showed higher accuracy and faster RTs than action naming for all participants.
• Individuals with aphasia (PWA) had lower accuracy and slower RTs than healthy controls.
• PWA exhibited variable response latencies across trials, unlike healthy participants whose RTs decreased.

Conclusions:

• Measuring RT can help characterize retrieval difficulties in anomic aphasia.
• Retrieval processes in PWA may be less efficient or different from those in neurologically healthy individuals, even in mild cases.