Article

The purpose of this study was to create a "behavioral treatment engine" for
future use in research on physiological adjuvants in aphasia rehabilitation. We
chose the behavioral target anomia, which is a feature displayed by many persons
who have aphasia. Further, we wished to saturate the treatment approach with many
strategies and cues that have been empirically reported to have a positive
influence on aphasia outcome, with the goal being to optimize the potential for
positive response in most participants. A single-subject multiple baseline design
with replication across eight participants was employed. Four men and four women,
with an average age of 62 yr and an average of 63.13 mo poststroke onset, served
as participants. Word-retrieval treatment was administered 3 d/wk, 1 h/d for a
total of 20 treatment hours (6-7 wk). Positive acquisition effects were evident
in all eight participants (d effect size [ES] = 5.40). Treatment effects were
maintained 3 mo after treatment termination for five participants (d ES = 2.94).
Within and across semantic category, generalization was minimal (d ES = 0.43
within and 1.09 across). This study demonstrates that this behavioral treatment
engine provides a solid platform on which to base future studies whereby various
treatment conditions are manipulated and pharmacologic support is added.

Langue : ANGLAIS