Effects of Task Difficulty on Naming Performance of Aphasic Subjects

Abstract

Nine aphasic patients participated in a picture-naming task in which sets of predetermined easy-to-name pictures were alternated with sets of predetermined difficult-to-name pictures. Results indicated that exposure to difficult-to-name items interfered with subject’s ability to name subsequent easy-to-name items. The inverse was also true; that is, exposure to easy-to-name items facilitated naming of subsequent difficult-to-name items. A six-point system was used to score subjects' responses; it proved to be more sensitive than a two-point ‘correct-incorrect’ scale. Analysis of subjects' responses suggested that increments in correct naming appear in all-or-none fashion, rather than as a progression through stages of gradually increasing accuracy.