Treatment generalization and executive control processes: Preliminary data from Chinese anomic individuals Short Report

Abstract

Background: While various treatment approaches have been shown to be effective in remediating word-finding difficulties in aphasic individuals, interest has recently been directed at the role of executive functions in affecting treatment outcomes. Aims: To examine the existence of a possible relationship between treatment generalization and executive control abilities. Methods & Procedures: An identical treatment protocol using the English alphabet as letter cues to facilitate name retrieval was applied to five Cantonese-speaking anomic individuals. A series of language and cognitive tasks were administered to help identify which deficit(s) would affect treatment results. Outcomes & Results: All five participants demonstrated improvement in naming treated items. However, only two subjects with better inhibitory control exhibited significant gains in naming phonologically related untrained items. Conclusions & Implications: The preliminary results not only converge on current findings of the role of executive functions in rehabilitation results, but also identify in particular how inhibitory control may affect the outcomes of anomia therapy. © 2009 Informa UK Ltd All rights reserved: reproduction in whole or part not permitted.