Abstract
Introduction
Semantic Feature Analysis (SFA) is an intervention that aims to improve the naming performance of neurogenic patients with anomia using a structured framework that guides the patients to analyze the semantic features of the naming targets. A recent single-case study (Tam & Lau, 2019) has reported evidence that SFA, modified with the use of an unstructured odd man out task, was also effective in improving the naming performance of a patient with anomia after surgical intervention of atrioventricular malformation. The improvement was attributed to the procedures of the odd man out task which encouraged detailed comparison of distinctive semantic features that facilitated semantic processing. The current study aims to replicate the findings of this modified SFA with adaptations for a Cantonese-speaking individual with anomia resulted from traumatic brain injury (TBI). In addition, the extent to which the patient’s written naming performance was improved after the treatment was also observed.
Methods
YFS, a 72-year-old right-handed female Cantonese speaker with naming difficulties due to TBI four years before the study was recruited. No visual, hearing, or motor impairment was reported. Results of initial assessments indicated that she had a preserved semantic system but poor oral and written naming abilities. Twelve treatment sessions were conducted over six weeks using the modified SFA.
Results
Table 1 summarizes the oral and written picture naming performance of YFS in the pre-treatment, post-treatment and maintenance phases. Results of McNemar’s tests indicated that YFS showed significant improvement in oral picture naming of 217 selected pictures in Snodgrass and Vanderwart (1980) immediately after [X2(1) = 8.446, p < .05] and two weeks after treatment [X2(1) = 22.753, p < .05]. Improvement of accuracy in written naming was not statistically significant, but Chi-square test results indicated a significantly reduction in semantic errors was observed.
Conclusions
The current study extended the findings of Tam & Lau (2019) that the modified SFA is also effective in promoting the naming performance of neurogenic patients with anomia resulted from TBI. YFS’s reduction in semantic errors in the written naming performance after the treatment also supported the importance of the lexical-semantic route of writing in Chinese (e.g. Lau, 2020). Theoretical and clinical implications as well as specific adaptations we applied to accommodate the cognitive diversities associate with TBI will be discussed.
Semantic Feature Analysis (SFA) is an intervention that aims to improve the naming performance of neurogenic patients with anomia using a structured framework that guides the patients to analyze the semantic features of the naming targets. A recent single-case study (Tam & Lau, 2019) has reported evidence that SFA, modified with the use of an unstructured odd man out task, was also effective in improving the naming performance of a patient with anomia after surgical intervention of atrioventricular malformation. The improvement was attributed to the procedures of the odd man out task which encouraged detailed comparison of distinctive semantic features that facilitated semantic processing. The current study aims to replicate the findings of this modified SFA with adaptations for a Cantonese-speaking individual with anomia resulted from traumatic brain injury (TBI). In addition, the extent to which the patient’s written naming performance was improved after the treatment was also observed.
Methods
YFS, a 72-year-old right-handed female Cantonese speaker with naming difficulties due to TBI four years before the study was recruited. No visual, hearing, or motor impairment was reported. Results of initial assessments indicated that she had a preserved semantic system but poor oral and written naming abilities. Twelve treatment sessions were conducted over six weeks using the modified SFA.
Results
Table 1 summarizes the oral and written picture naming performance of YFS in the pre-treatment, post-treatment and maintenance phases. Results of McNemar’s tests indicated that YFS showed significant improvement in oral picture naming of 217 selected pictures in Snodgrass and Vanderwart (1980) immediately after [X2(1) = 8.446, p < .05] and two weeks after treatment [X2(1) = 22.753, p < .05]. Improvement of accuracy in written naming was not statistically significant, but Chi-square test results indicated a significantly reduction in semantic errors was observed.
Conclusions
The current study extended the findings of Tam & Lau (2019) that the modified SFA is also effective in promoting the naming performance of neurogenic patients with anomia resulted from TBI. YFS’s reduction in semantic errors in the written naming performance after the treatment also supported the importance of the lexical-semantic route of writing in Chinese (e.g. Lau, 2020). Theoretical and clinical implications as well as specific adaptations we applied to accommodate the cognitive diversities associate with TBI will be discussed.
| Original language | English |
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| Publication status | Published - Oct 2021 |
| Event | Academy of Aphasia 59th Annual Meeting - Online Duration: 24 Oct 2021 → 26 Oct 2021 |
Competition
| Competition | Academy of Aphasia 59th Annual Meeting |
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| Period | 24/10/21 → 26/10/21 |