Chapter 11 - Aspects of Lexical Access: Evidence from Aphasia

Abstract

This chapter discusses the aspects of lexical access. The study of aphasia has made significant contributions to the understanding of the organization of the lexicon. The contributions have come in several forms and have concerned many aspects of the lexical processing system. At the most general level, the selective deficit or sparing of the semantic, the grammatical, or the phonological (or orthographic) properties of words has been used to inform theories of the architecture of the lexical system. The analysis of aphasic language patterns has also been used to support more specific claims about the processing structure and the organization of the lexical system. The analysis of aphasic language patterns has also been used to support more specific claims about the processing structure and the organization of the lexical system. Modality-specific naming deficits have also been observed for output modalities. There are many reports of patients who are more impaired in producing the spoken than the written name of an object or vice versa. The chapter illustrates a specific phenomenon from the performance of brain-damaged patients to shed light on several issues of current interest in lexical processing.