Lexical and semantic factors influencing picture naming in aphasia

Picture naming requires early visual analysis, accessing stored structural knowledge, semantic activation, and lexical retrieval. We tested the effect of perceptual, lexical, and semantic variables on the performance of aphasics in picture naming and assessed prevalence of natural categories vs artifact dissociations. Forty-nine aphasics were asked to name 60 pictures, from three natural (animals, fruits, and vegetables) and three artificial categories (tools, furniture, and vehicles). For each item visual (drawing complexity, image agreement), semantic (prototypicality, concept familiarity) and lexical variables (word frequency, name agreement) were available. The effect of these variables showed individual differences; altogether, visual complexity had little influence, whereas lexical and semantic variables were more influential. Name agreement was most important, followed by word frequency. On a multiple single case analysis 10 patients (20%) showed a natural/artificial category dissociation. Five of the six subjects faring better with artifacts were males, and all of four patients faring better with natural categories were females. Interpretations of this finding are discussed.

[1]  H. Goodglass,et al.  Specific Semantic Word Categories in Aphasia , 1966 .

[2]  Elaine Funnell,et al.  JBR: A reassessment of concept familiarity and a category-specific disorder for living things , 1996 .

[3]  John Hinde,et al.  Statistical Modelling in GLIM. , 1989 .

[4]  Alfonso Caramazza,et al.  The interpretation of semantic category-specific deficits: What do they reveal about the organizatio , 1998 .

[5]  Leslie G. Ungerleider,et al.  Neural correlates of category-specific knowledge , 1996, Nature.

[6]  J. Konorski.  Integrative activity of the brain : an interdisciplinary approach , 1967 .

[7]  Christopher Barry,et al.  Naming the Snodgrass and Vanderwart Pictures: Effects of Age of Acquisition, Frequency, and Name Agreement , 1997 .

[8]  J. G. Snodgrass,et al.  A standardized set of 260 pictures: norms for name agreement, image agreement, familiarity, and visual complexity. , 1980, Journal of experimental psychology. Human learning and memory.

[9]  W. Montague,et al.  Category norms of verbal items in 56 categories A replication and extension of the Connecticut category norms , 1969 .

[10]  D. Howard,et al.  Aphasic naming: What matters? , 1995, Neuropsychologia.

[11]  P. McCullagh,et al.  Generalized Linear Models , 1992 .

[12]  Erminio Capitani,et al.  Gender Affects Word Retrieval of Certain Categories in Semantic Fluency Tasks , 1999, Cortex.

[13]  Richard D. Hichwa,et al.  A neural basis for lexical retrieval , 1996, Nature.

[14]  E. Capitani,et al.  Semantic category dissociations in naming : is there a gender effect in Alzheimer’s disease? , 1998, Neuropsychologia.