Examining Cognitive-Linguistic and Learning Abilities in PWA Utilizing Language Retrieval and Novel Object Pairing Tasks

EasyChair Preprint 6520

Abstract

Previous research has frequently overlooked individual variability in learning and cognitive abilities that may influence aphasia therapy outcomes. Thus, the current project examined average learning outcomes and retention as well individual learning profiles across people with aphasia (N=9), examining errorless and errorful learning of short behavioral tasks: a novel object pairing learning task and a word retrieval task. Other cognitive-linguistic abilities, including memory, executive functioning, and language ability, were also measured to determine how these cognitive-linguistic abilities influenced learning success in errorless and errorful conditions. Across the participants with aphasia, errorless and errorful methods were found to result in comparable outcomes immediately (p=0.12) with errorful learning resulting in greater retention on delayed testing one day after learning (p=0.08). Individually, participants were found to display various profiles of learning when engaging in errorless vs. errorful-structured tasks such that some individuals displayed learning across both conditions, some only within one condition, and others in neither. These differences in learning outcomes across errorless and errorful conditions were likely mediated by the unique cognitive demands of each condition. Moreover, errorful learning moderately correlated with Wisconsin Card Sort Task outcomes (r=0.58, p=0.10) indicating that increased executive functioning mechanisms of shifting, inhibiting, detecting errors, and feedback processing may be associated with success in errorful learning specifically. This work contributes to foundations important for understanding learning at an individual level in people with aphasia. With this work, speech-language pathologists may be better able to assess and describe learning profiles of individuals with aphasia in order to appropriately tailor therapy to suit learning preferences for maximal outcomes.

Keyphrases: Anomia, Aphasia rehabilitation, Errorful learning, adults, errorless learning

@booklet{EasyChair:6520,
  author    = {Preeti Rishi and Kristen Nunn and Yael Arbel and Rachel Pittmann and Sofia Vallila-Rohter},
  title     = {Examining Cognitive-Linguistic and Learning Abilities in PWA Utilizing Language Retrieval and Novel Object Pairing Tasks},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint 6520},
  year      = {EasyChair, 2021}}