Psycholinguistic variables influencing word retrieval in Persian speaking people with aphasia

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background Word retrieval deficits are one of the hallmark symptoms of people with aphasia (PWA). Psycholinguistic variables can predict word retrieval accuracy and latency in aphasia, but results to date have been mixed. Aims In this study, we investigate the effects of age of acquisition (AOA), familiarity, word frequency, and word length on the naming accuracy and reaction time of Persian-speaking PWA. Methods & Procedures This study consists of 25 participants with mild to moderate aphasia who completed a confrontation naming test. Naming accuracy was determined per participant per picture and reaction times were calculated using DMDX and CHECKVOCAL. Outcomes & Results The results showed that the four psycholinguistic variables were significantly correlated with naming accuracy and reaction time across the group of PWA. Multiple linear regressions demonstrated that among the four psycholinguistic variables, word familiarity had the strongest effect on reaction time; frequency and familiarity were most predictive of naming accuracy. Conclusions The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the influence of four psycholinguistic variables on word retrieval in Persian-speaking PWA using picture naming. The result of this study showed that word familiarity led to more accurate and faster retrieval, while word frequency led to more accurate word retrieval. The effect of psycholinguistic variables in picture naming is relevant to various fields of study, such as the underlying processes of language production, brain lesions, and functional imaging of naming.