Maintenance and Generalization Effects of Semantic and Phonological Treatments of Anomia: A Case Study

Anomia is one of the most frequent manifestations in aphasia. Model-based treatments for anomia usually focus on semantic and/or phonological levels of processing. This study reports treatment of anomia in an individual with chronic aphasia. After baseline testing, she received a training program in which semantic and phonological treatments were contrasted. The semantic treatment resulted in generalization to closely semantically related untreated items. Moreover, this beneficial effect was highly durable and maintained at the immediate posttreatment level for at least 3 months. However, the positive response to the phonological treatment was limited to treated stimuli only. This case study demonstrates that improvement in word-finding abilities may be possible in chronic anomic aphasia, even after a relatively short period of therapy. It also underlines the importance of relying on theoretical models of language processing to adapt treatments to each specific deficit.