Word fluency strategies in aphasia for common and goal-directed categories

Word fluency strategies in aphasia for common and goal-directed categories Article

Hough, MS. (2006). Word fluency strategies in aphasia for common and goal-directed categories . 14(1), 33-41.

In this study, response strategies used in a word fluency task by 10 fluent and 10 non-fluent aphasic and 10 non-brain-damaged (NBD) adults were examined for two different types of categories, goal-directed and common categories. Significantly fewer strategies were used for common than goal-directed categories, regardless of group (p < .05). Although all three groups performed similarly on frequency and pattern of strategy usage for goal-directed categories, both aphasic groups used significantly fewer strategies than the NBD group for common categories. Both aphasic groups used a significantly smaller percentage of semantic strategies but a significantly higher percentage of subordinate association strategies than the NBD group for common categories. Increased subordinate strategy usage in aphasia may result from reduced accessibility to complete representational fields for common categories. Copyright © 2006 by Delmar Learning, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.