Frequent Communication Partners Research Articles

Reapportionment of communicative burden in aphasia: A study of narrative interaction

Background : Communicative burden is distributed among the participants in a communicative interaction based on the type of interaction, the respective communicative abilities of the participants, and numerous other factors. When one of the participants in an interaction is a person with aphasia, some additional portion of the burden is usually reapportioned to the non-aphasic participants. Aims : The purpose of this study was to develop an objective measure of the reapportionment of communicative burden and to examine the relationship between the degree of reapportionment and functional communicative abilities. Methods & Procedures : Interactions between 12 persons with aphasia and a common communication partner were videotaped and analysed for the number of communicative exchanges initiated by each participant. All of the interactions were in the narrative format in which the participant who possesses the information to be conveyed is expected to initiate most of the exchanges. The percentages of exchanges initiated by the persons with aphasia were correlated with scores on a standardised measure of functional communication and with a subjective rating of the increased burden assumed by the most frequent communication partners of the persons with aphasia. Outcomes & Results : Nearly all of the participants with aphasia initiated a substantially lower percentage of exchanges than had a group of non-brain-injured participants who had completed the experimental task previously. Moderately strong correlations were obtained for percentage of exchanges initiated with both the measure of functional communication and the subjective rating of burden reapportionment. Conclusions : Communicative burden was shown to be reapportioned from persons with aphasia to their communication partners. In addition, the amount of burden shifted to partners was greater for participants with poorer functional communication. Implications for intervention to facilitate communication between persons with aphasia and their partners were discussed.

Assessment and Treatment of Cognitive-Communication Disorders in Individuals With Dementia

Assessment and Treatment of Cognitive-Communication Disorders in Individuals With Dementia

Conversation Repair and Acquired Hearing Impairment: A Preliminary Quantitative Clinical Study

This report provides a quantitative summary of the initial findings in a series of investigations into the validity and reliability of repair behaviour recorded in free conversation in clinical settings between adults who have acquired hearing impairments (HIs) and their frequent communication partners (FCPs). Seven adults who have severe or greater acquired HIs (and who had subsequently been either fitted with hearing aids or undergone cochlear implantation) were audio-recorded undertaking a 20-minute free conversation in a quiet clinical setting with their chosen FCP. Transcriptions of the conversations were analysed for the occurrence of repair sequences following the Conversation Analysis (CA) model. A total of 735 completed repair sequences were identified across the seven conversations, the majority occurring within the same turn as the trouble source. No difference was noted in the frequency with which all but one trajectory was initiated by either the HI or FCP participants. Repairs initiated by the HI participant and repaired by the FCP in response to a trouble source in a previous turn by the FCP occurred significantly more often than the same sequence initiated by the FCPs. The results emphasise the usefulness of framing repair activity arising from acquired HI in the broader conversational act of repairing and the CA model.