Phonological Components Analysis Research Articles

Phonological components analysis (PCA) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (svPPA): A single-case longitudinal study

ABSTRACT Background Semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) is a form of dementia leading to progressive language comprehension and production difficulties. Aims We investigated whether a phonological approach combined with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) would improve naming skills in semantic-based word finding difficulties due to svPPA. Methods & Procedures A 58-year-old female with svPPA was treated with phonological components analysis (PCA) combined with anodal transcranial direct current simulation (atDCS) of the left anterior temporal lobe. She completed four structured therapy blocks, each lasting two weeks and separated by a minimum two-week break including two interim tests. Before and after the intervention, we additionally assessed the participant’s general cognitive and language skills. Outcomes & Results Logistic regression showed that the participant’s ability to name trained and untrained items improved significantly. Furthermore, her overall cognitive and language abilities seemed to stagnate over the eight months, which seems surprising given the underlying progressive svPPA. We therefore concluded that phonological approaches combined with tDCS can enhance naming abilities even though the difficulties are mainly semantically driven.

Focusing on the locus of the breakdown for treatment of anomia: a pilot study

ABSTRACT The primary goal of this study was to evaluate the treatment effects of semantic feature analysis (SFA) and phonological components analysis (PCA) on word retrieval processing in persons with aphasia (PWAs). After identifying the locus of the breakdown in lexical retrieval processing, 15 monolingual native Persian speakers with aphasia were divided into two groups. After three naming trials, participants with dominant semantic deficits received SFA, and participants with primary phonological deficits were provided with PCA three times a week for eight weeks. Both approaches improved participants’ naming and performance on language tests, including spontaneous speech, repetition, comprehension, and semantic processing. However, the correct naming of treated and untreated items was higher in mild-to-moderate participants, with mostly circumlocution and semantic paraphasias in the SFA group. The same holds for mild-to-moderate participants with mostly phonemic paraphasia who received PCA therapy. Moreover, the results showed that participants’ baseline naming performance and semantic abilities could be associated with the treatment outcomes. Although limited by a lack of a control group, this study provided evidence supporting the possible benefits of focusing on the locus of the breakdown for treating anomia through SFA and PCA approaches, specifically in participants with mild to moderate aphasia. However, for those with severe aphasia, the treatment choice may not be as straightforward because several variables are likely to contribute to this population’s word-finding difficulties. Replication with larger, well-stratified samples, use of a within-subjects alternating treatment design and consideration of treatments’ long-term effects are required to better ascertain the effects of focusing on the locus of breakdown for treatment of anomia.

Cognitive Training to Enhance Aphasia Therapy (Co-TrEAT): A Feasibility Study.

Persons with aphasia (PWA) often have deficits in cognitive domains such as working memory (WM), which are negatively correlated with recovery, and studies have targeted WM deficits in aphasia therapy. To our knowledge, however, no study has examined the efficacy of multi-modal training which includes both WM training and targeted language therapy. This pilot project examined the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of combining WM training and naming therapy to treat post-stroke PWA. Chronic PWA were randomly assigned to either the a) Phonological Components Analysis (PCA) and WM intervention (WMI) condition (i.e., a computerized adaptive dual n-back task), or b) PCA and active control condition (WMC). Participants received face-to-face PCA therapy 3 times/week for 5 weeks, and simultaneously engaged in WM training or the active control condition five times/week, independently at home. Six PWA were enrolled, 3 in each condition. Feasibility metrics were excellent for protocol compliance, retention rate and lack of adverse events. Recruitment was less successful, with insufficient participants for group analyses. Participants in the WMI (but not the WMC) condition demonstrated a clinically significant (i.e., > 5 points) improvement on the Western Aphasia Battery- Aphasia Quotient (WAB-R AQ) and Boston Naming Test after therapy. Given the small sample size, the performance of two individuals, matched on age, education, naming accuracy pre-treatment, WAB-R AQ and WM abilities was compared. Participant WMI-3 demonstrated a notable increase in WM training performance over the course of therapy; WMC-2 was the matched control. After therapy, WMI-3's naming accuracy for the treated words improved from 30 to 90% (compared to 30–50% for WMC-2) with a 7-point WAB-R AQ increase (compared to 3 for WMC-2). Improvements were also found for WMI-3 but not for WMC-2 on ratings of communicative effectiveness, confidence and some conversation parameters in discourse. This feasibility study demonstrated excellent results for most aspects of Co-TrEAT. Recruitment rate, hampered by limited resources, must be addressed in future trials; remotely delivered aphasia therapy may be a possible solution. Although no firm conclusions can be drawn, the case studies suggest that WM training has the potential to improve language and communication outcomes when combined with aphasia therapy.

Simultaneous Normalization and Compensatory Changes in Right Hemisphere Connectivity during Aphasia Therapy.

Changes in brain connectivity during language therapy were examined among participants with aphasia (PWA), aiming to shed light on neural reorganization in the language network. Four PWA with anomia following left hemisphere stroke and eight healthy controls (HC) participated in the study. Two fMRI scans were administered to all participants with a 3.5-month interval. The fMRI scans included phonological and semantic tasks, each consisting of linguistic and perceptual matching conditions. Between the two fMRI scans, PWA underwent Phonological Components Analysis treatment. Changes in effective connectivity during the treatment were examined within right hemisphere (RH) architecture. The results illustrate that following the treatment, the averaged connectivity of PWA across all perceptual and linguistic conditions in both tasks increased resemblance to HC, reflecting the normalization of neural processes associated with silent object name retrieval. In contrast, connections that were specifically enhanced by the phonological condition in PWA decreased in their resemblance to HC, reflecting emerging compensatory reorganization in RH connectivity to support phonological processing. These findings suggest that both normalization and compensation play a role in neural language reorganization at the chronic stage, occurring simultaneously in the same brain.

The effects of intensity on a phonological treatment for anomia in post-stroke aphasia

IntroductionThe evidence regarding optimal treatment intensity is mixed, and differing definitions have further confounded existing findings. The primary objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of Phonological Components Analysis (PCA) treatment for anomia delivered at intense and non-intense schedules, using a well-controlled design. The number of teaching episodes and active ingredients of therapy are important considerations when defining intensity. We hypothesized that an active ingredient of PCA is the self-generation of phonological components during therapy sessions. Our secondary aim was to examine whether component generation predicted treatment outcome. MethodsSixteen adults (M = 52.63 years old, SD = 11.40) with chronic post-stroke aphasia (M = 4.52 years post-onset, SD = 5.55) were randomly assigned to intensive (IT) or standard (ST) PCA treatment conditions. Cumulative treatment intensity in both conditions was equivalent: ST participants received PCA 1 hour/day, 3 days/week for 10 weeks, whereas IT participants received PCA 3 hours/day, 4 days/week for 2.5 weeks. The primary outcome was naming accuracy on a set of treated and (matched) untreated words, measured pre- and post-treatment, and at four- and eight-week follow-ups. ResultsIT and ST conditions were similarly efficacious. However, secondary analyses suggest an advantage for the IT condition in naming of the treated words immediately post-treatment, but not at follow-ups. The self-generation of phonological components emerged as a significant positive predictor of naming accuracy for both the treated and untreated words. However, this relationship did not reach significance once baseline anomia severity was accounted for. ConclusionsAlthough replication in a larger sample is warranted, results suggest that PCA treatment is similarly efficacious when delivered at different intensities. Other factors related to the quality of treatment (i.e., active ingredients such as cue-generation) may play an important role in determining treatment efficacy and must also be considered when comparing treatment intensities.

Naming gains and within-intervention progression following semantic feature analysis (SFA) and phonological components analysis (PCA) in adults with chronic post-stroke aphasia

ABSTRACT Background: Up to 60% of people with aphasia experience persistent word-finding difficulties into the chronic stage, starting six months after the stroke. Semantic Feature Analysis (SFA) and Phonological Components Analysis (PCA) are two common word-finding interventions that use the generation of semantic features for SFA (e.g. category) and phonological features for PCA (e.g. first sound) to improve naming. Despite inconsistent support for the generalization to untreated items, studies have shown improvements on probe word naming for treated items. However, research concerning within-intervention effects and generalization to alternative contexts has been limited. Aim: This study investigated the effect of treatment for SFA and PCA probe word naming as well as their within-intervention effects in four individuals with chronic post-stroke aphasia. Methods & Procedures: Baseline and follow-up measures included standardized assessments and image naming tasks. The image naming task was used to generate three lists: an SFA treated list, a PCA treated list, and an untreated list. One SFA session and one PCA session per week were then provided concurrently to each participant for a period of six weeks. Outcomes & Results: While only one participant experienced significant gains on treated probe word naming, these gains were maintained four weeks after the intervention. Exploratory results suggested that effects could transfer to two types of generalization items: different pictures of the same items and pictures of items shown in a natural context. Furthermore, while generalization to untreated items did not reach significance for any participant, some generalization of gains to standardized assessments was observed. Although rarely equivalent for SFA and PCA interventions, all participants also experienced some degree of within-intervention improvement over the progression of sessions. These improvements included a reduction in the number of forced choices required for feature generation and/or a reduction in the number of words never named during intervention sessions. Conclusion: The results support additional avenues of investigation for SFA and PCA therapies for individuals with post-stroke aphasia, namely within intervention effects and the potential for generalization to different contexts.

Relationship between cortical connectivity and aphasia therapy response

Introduction Individual response to aphasia therapy is highly variable and difficult to predict. While different therapies for word retrieval are often given based on assumptions regarding the underlying breakdown, behavioural symptoms do not consistently predict which type of naming therapy will be most effective. Measures of cortical connectivity derived from EEG before and after therapy may provide additional important information for predicting and understanding response to therapy. Methods Twenty-three adults were recruited including eight adults with chronic, post-stroke aphasia who successfully completed 12 therapy sessions over 4 weeks, alternating between semantic and phonological approaches to word retrieval based on semantic feature analysis and phonological components analysis. Fifteen age-matched healthy controls were included for comparison. High-density electroencephalography (128 channel EEG) was measured during a picture-word judgement task performed before and after treatment for the aphasia group. Analysis of EEG via a dynamic causal modelling (DCM) approach was used to assess semantic and phonological processing pre and post therapy. DCM was applied using five fronto-temporo-parietal regions of interest based on source imaging analysis in the control and aphasia groups. Results Post-treatment naming improvement was associated with cortical responses measured bilaterally in a DCM connectivity model. Specifically, naming improvement for items treated with semantic feature analysis was correlated with (a) increased pre-treatment coupling between the left inferior parietal lobule and left inferior frontal gyrus (r = 0.63, pFDR=0.016) (b) increased coupling from left to right inferior parietal lobule (r = .77, FDRp = .0005) and (c) decreased pre-treatment coupling between the right inferior parietal lobule and right anterior middle temporal gyrus (r = -0.76, pFDR = 0.03). Post-treatment, reduced coupling between right inferior frontal gyrus and right posterior superior temporal gyrus was also significantly correlated with naming improvement for semantic treatment items (r= −0.53, pFDR=0.010). Conclusions This preliminary study on a small cohort of individuals with chronic aphasia has demonstrated the potential of DCM connectivity models derived from EEG data to predict and understand aphasia therapy response. In addition to highlighting the importance of connectivity within left hemisphere networks and inter-hemispheric coupling for treatment, the observation of reduced right intrahemispheric coupling in those individuals with improved outcomes supports the view that right hemisphere mechanisms may not invariably support treatment-induced recovery. Elucidating effective ipsilateral and contralateral connectivity before and after aphasia treatment provides new insights into therapy-induced reorganisation of cortical networks associated with successful therapy outcomes.

Naming of Objects and Actions after Treatment with Phonological Components Analysis in Aphasia

Naming of Objects and Actions after Treatment with Phonological Components Analysis in Aphasia

French version of the Phonological Component Analysis: Preliminary results with three participants

French version of the Phonological Component Analysis: Preliminary results with three participants

Comparative Effectiveness of Semantic Feature Analysis (SFA) and Phonological Components Analysis (PCA) for Anomia Treatment in Persian Speaking Patients With Aphasia

Comparative Effectiveness of Semantic Feature Analysis (SFA) and Phonological Components Analysis (PCA) for Anomia Treatment in Persian Speaking Patients With Aphasia

A case series comparison of semantically focused vs. phonologically focused cued naming treatment in aphasia

ABSTRACTThere is a lack of clarity in the field regarding how to best predict which naming treatment will be most beneficial for a particular individual with aphasia. The purpose of this study was to elucidate whether or not semantic or phonological therapy differentially impacts on outcomes for people with a range of different aphasic profiles when given both therapies. A single-participant design, with multiple repeated baselines for naming, replicated across four participants, was used. Participants were provided with a counterbalanced order of Semantic Feature Analysis (SFA) and Phonological Components Analysis (PCA) treatment. Findings demonstrated differential effects across participants. This seemed to be influenced by factors such as severity of anomia, order of treatment presentation, and capacity limits. Clinical implications of these findings highlight the importance of expanding our picture of a participant’s behaviours to consider what other important factors can inform intervention decisions.

The Influence of Phonological Components Analysis Treatment on Lexical Access in Individuals with Aphasia

The Influence of Phonological Components Analysis Treatment on Lexical Access in Individuals with Aphasia

Executive control and its relationship to aphasia therapy outcomes

Event Abstract Back to Event Executive control and its relationship to aphasia therapy outcomes Tijana Simic1, 2, 3*, Laura Laird4, Devora Goldberg4, Tali Bitan4, 5, Craig Chambers6, Gary Turner7, 8, Carol Leonard3, 4, 9 and Elizabeth Rochon2, 3, 4 1 University of Toronto, Speech-Language Pathology - Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, Canada 2 Toronto Rehabilitation Institute - University Health Network, Canada 3 Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Canada 4 University of Toronto, Speech-Language Pathology Department, Canada 5 University of Haifa, Israel 6 University of Toronto - Mississauga, Canada 7 York University, Canada 8 University of Toronto, Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, Canada 9 University of Ottawa, Canada Although anomia therapy can be highly beneficial (1, 2), even in chronic disease states (3), it remains difficult to predict how individuals with post-stroke aphasia will respond to treatment. Individuals with similar aphasia profiles often respond differently to the same treatment (4), and language impairments measured clinically are not always accurate predictors of communication in real-life settings (5, 6, 7). Some research suggests that executive control (EC) ability may be a good predictor of aphasia therapy success (4, 5, 6). EC is conceptualized as a diverse but related group of cognitive processes, recruited in various combinations to perform goal-oriented behaviors and navigate novel situations (8, 9). Our recent systematic review (10) found better EC performance to be related to greater language improvements following therapy in 10/15 studies. This relationship was observed primarily with: simple and specific EC tasks, naming therapy, and moderate-to-severe aphasia. The review highlighted that EC is poorly defined in aphasia treatment studies; tasks used to assess EC are highly variable and interpreted differently across studies, correlate poorly with one another and are low in validity. The aim of this pre-post single group treatment study was to examine whether specific, operationally defined EC processes measured pre-treatment could be indicative of gains made after administration of the structured Phonological Components Analysis (11, 12) naming therapy. Following well-established EC models (8, 9, 13), the EC processes of interest were: updating working memory (replacing irrelevant information with new, relevant information), shifting (switching between multiple tasks) and inhibition (stopping dominant, automatic responses). We expected positive correlations for accuracy data and negative correlations for reaction time (RT) data (i.e., lower RTs indicate better performance). Participants were treated three times a week for five weeks. Naming accuracy of treated and untreated words was assessed pre, post, four- and eight-weeks after therapy. Naming accuracy (difference scores) and performance on EC tasks were correlated using Kendall’s tau-b nonparametric correlation coefficient. Participants were: eight adults (mean age = 52.5, SD= 14.2, range= 35 – 75) with mild to severe aphasia (mean WAB AQ= 63.6, SD=12.15, range=39.6 – 78.6), post single left-hemisphere stroke (months post-onset mean= 11.0, SD= 3.7, range= 6 – 18). Preliminary findings demonstrate significantly improved naming accuracy on treated words pre- to post-treatment (p= 0.01); this was maintained at four- (p= 0.03) and eight-week (p=0.04) follow-ups. Treatment effect sizes at all time points were large. Correlation coefficients between EC tasks and naming accuracy at the three time points are presented in Table 1. Analyses reveal that for certain processes there is a strengthening of the relationship between EC and language over time. Significant correlations were found between naming accuracy at eight-week follow up and updating and inhibition accuracy (p < 0.05), and inhibition RT (p < 0.01) measured pre-treatment. Though preliminary and based on a small sample, these data suggest that distinguishable EC processes may play an important role in consolidating learned material, and maintaining treatment improvements over time. Analysis of the relationship between untreated words, naming errors, and EC processes is ongoing. Acknowledgements This work was supported by a Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada grant (#NA7015) and a Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada - Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery trainee award to Tijana Simic. The authors wish to acknowledge the participants and their families as well as our referral sites.

A Usability Study of Internet-Based Therapy for Naming Deficits in Aphasia.

This study aimed to evaluate the usability of delivering the Phonological Components Analysis treatment for anomia (Leonard, Rochon, & Laird, 2008) remotely via the Internet to individuals with chronic poststroke aphasia. A secondary aim was to probe the experiences and satisfaction of clinicians in administering treatment at a distance. Six individuals with mild-moderate aphasia and 2 trained clinicians participated in this usability study. Participants and clinicians underwent approximately 6 hr of treatment under observation by an independent observer. The usability characteristics of effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction were assessed. Individuals with aphasia used the Internet-based Phonological Components Analysis therapy successfully, demonstrating independence and very few errors in completing online tasks. Overall, participant satisfaction was high, despite occasional difficulties with technical aspects of the system. Clinicians found the application easy to use but raised concerns about the participant-clinician interaction, perceiving rapport-building and communicating to be more difficult online than face-to-face. It is important to consider usability and the clinician's perspective in developing telepractice applications in speech-language pathology. Future directions include assessing the efficacy of remote treatment and collecting a larger sample of clinician data.

Developing a Prototype Naming Therapy Application in Malay for People with Aphasia

Developing a Prototype Naming Therapy Application in Malay for People with Aphasia

Neural activity associated with semantic versus phonological anomia treatments in aphasia

Naming impairments in aphasia are typically targeted using semantic and/or phonologically based tasks. However, it is not known whether these treatments have different neural mechanisms. Eight participants with aphasia received twelve treatment sessions using an alternating treatment design, with fMRI scans pre- and post-treatment. Half the sessions employed Phonological Components Analysis (PCA), and half the sessions employed Semantic Feature Analysis (SFA). Pre-treatment activity in the left caudate correlated with greater immediate treatment success for items treated with SFA, whereas recruitment of the left supramarginal gyrus and right precuneus post-treatment correlated with greater immediate treatment success for items treated with PCA. The results support previous studies that have found greater treatment outcome to be associated with activity in predominantly left hemisphere regions, and suggest that different mechanisms may be engaged dependent on the type of treatment employed.

Phonological therapy in jargon aphasia: effects on naming and neologisms

Jargon aphasia is one of the most intractable forms of aphasia with limited recommendation on amelioration of associated naming difficulties and neologisms. The few naming therapy studies that exist in jargon aphasia have utilized either semantic or phonological approaches, but the results have been equivocal. Moreover, the effect of therapy on the characteristics of neologisms is less explored. This study investigates the effectiveness of a phonological naming therapy (i.e., phonological component analysis-PCA) on picture-naming abilities and on quantitative and qualitative changes in neologisms for an individual with jargon aphasia (FF). FF showed evidence of jargon aphasia with severe naming difficulties and produced a very high proportion of neologisms. A single-subject multiple probe design across behaviours was employed to evaluate the effects of PCA therapy on the accuracy for three sets of words. In therapy, a phonological components analysis chart was used to identify five phonological components (i.e. rhymes, first sound, first sound associate, final sound and number of syllables) for each target word. Generalization effects-change in per cent accuracy and error pattern-were examined comparing pre- and post-therapy responses on the Philadelphia Naming Test, and these responses were analysed to explore the characteristics of the neologisms. The quantitative change in neologisms was measured by change in the proportion of neologisms from pre- to post-therapy and the qualitative change was indexed by the phonological overlap between target and neologism. As a consequence of PCA therapy, FF showed a significant improvement in his ability to name the treated items. His performance in maintenance and follow-up phases remained comparable with his performance during the therapy phases. Generalization to other naming tasks did not show a change in accuracy, but distinct differences in error pattern (an increase in proportion of real word responses and a decrease in proportion of neologisms) were observed. Notably, the decrease in neologisms occurred with a corresponding trend for increase in the phonological similarity between the neologisms and the targets. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of a phonological therapy for improving naming abilities and reducing the amount of neologisms in an individual with severe jargon aphasia. The positive outcome of this research is encouraging, as it provides evidence for effective therapies for jargon aphasia and also emphasizes that use of the quality and quantity of errors may provide a sensitive outcome measure to determine therapy effectiveness, in particular for client groups who are difficult to treat.

A comparison of semantic feature analysis and phonological components analysis for the treatment of naming impairments in aphasia

Therapy for naming impairments post-stroke typically involves semantic and/or phonologically-based tasks. However, the relationship between individuals' locus of breakdown in word retrieval and their response to a particular treatment approach remains unclear, and direct comparisons of treatments with different targets (semantics, phonology) yet similar formats are lacking. This study examined eight people with aphasia who each received 12 treatment sessions; half the sessions involved a semantically-based treatment task, Semantic Feature Analysis (SFA), and the other half involved a phonologically-based treatment task, Phonological Components Analysis (PCA). Pre-therapy baseline accuracy scores were compared to naming accuracy post-treatment and at follow-up assessment. Seven of the eight participants showed significant improvements in naming items treated with PCA, with six of these seven participants maintaining improvements at follow-up. Four of the eight participants showed significant improvements for items treated with SFA, with three of the four maintaining improvements at follow-up. The semantic therapy was not beneficial for participants with semantic deficits. In contrast, the phonological therapy was beneficial for most participants, despite differences in underlying impairments. Understanding the relationship between an individual's locus of breakdown in word retrieval and response to different treatment tasks has the potential to optimise targeted treatment.

Treating naming impairments in aphasia: Findings from a phonological components analysis treatment

Background: A new phonologically based treatment that we developed for addressing naming deficits in aphasia—the phonological components analysis (PCA) treatment—is presented. The PCA was modelled after the semantic feature analysis (SFA) approach (Boyle & Coelho, 1995). The SFA approach was chosen as a model for two reasons. First, results from the semantic therapies that have used SFA have been encouraging (e.g., Boyle, 2004; Boyle & Coelho, 1995; Coelho, McHugh, & Boyle, 2000; Conley & Coelho, 2003; Lowell, Beeson, & Holland, 1995). Second, SFA incorporates the principle of choice, a factor that has been identified by some as being important in producing longer‐lasting effects of treatment (e.g., Hickin, Best, Herbert, Howard, & Osborne, 2002). The PCA was developed to serve as a comparable phonological comparison for the SFA approach with the future goal of comparing the relative effects of both types of therapies. Portions of this work were presented at the Academy of Aphasia meetings in New York, October 2002 (Rochon, Leonard, & Laird, 2002) and Victoria, October 2006 (Rochon et al., 2006a), at the American Speech and Hearing Association meeting, Philadelphia, November 2004, and at the Rotman Research Conference, Toronto, March 2006 (Rochon et al., 2006b). This project was supported by grant number 44069 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and by grant number NA 5379 from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario. The authors are grateful to the North York Aphasia Institute, the York Durham Aphasia Centre, and the Aphasia Centre of Ottawa‐Carleton for allowing us to recruit participants from their institutions, and to all the individuals who participated in this research. James Andrews, Eleanor Arabia, Jennifer Cupit, Kit Flynn, Heather McCallum, Lauren Reznick, and Patty Vlachos, provided valuable assistance on this project. Thank you also to two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. Aims: The primary aim of this investigation was to document the effectiveness of PCA treatment for the remediation of naming deficits in aphasia. In addition, we wished to examine potential maintenance and generalisation effects associated with this treatment. Methods & Procedures: The PCA treatment followed the protocol of Coelho et al. (2000). The target picture was presented in the centre of a chart and the participant was asked to name it. Irrespective of his/her ability to name the picture, the participant was asked to identify five phonological components related to the target item (i.e., rhymes with, first sound, first sound associate, final sound, number of syllables). For each component targeted, if a participant could not spontaneously provide a response, he/she was asked to choose one from a list. A single‐subject multiple‐baseline across behaviours design was employed, with maintenance effects examined 4 weeks post‐treatment. Generalisation effects were examined by comparing pre‐ and post‐treatment scores on the Philadelphia Naming Test (Roach, Schwartz, Martin, Grewal, & Brecher, 1996). Ten individuals with aphasia participated. Outcomes & Results: Of the 10 individuals, 7 demonstrated notable treatment effects. Follow‐up testing indicated maintenance of treatment gains over a 4‐week period, with some generalisation to untreated items. Conclusions: This investigation was successful in demonstrating the effectiveness of a new phonological approach to the remediation of naming deficits in aphasia and in supporting the notion that a components analysis treatment protocol (similar to a semantic feature based treatment) is useful in strengthening activations within the lexical system with the potential result of longer‐lasting effects.