The Nature of Lexical Impairment in Anomia

A therapeutic approach based on the semantic relations of nouns to verbs

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate some variables relating to the difficulty of word usage in an anomic patient who was treated with therapeutic procedures based on the semantic relations of nouns to verbs (case relations) .
The following three-step program constructed in the course of the therapy was effective for the improvement of his difficulty of word usage.
Step 1. Using verbs and nouns to express a specific referent.
Step 2. Comprehending the semantic relations of nouns to verbs and then using these verbs or nouns.
Step 3. Using the verbs or nouns learned in steps 1 and 2 in daily life situations.
An analysis of the recovery process indicated that semantic features of individual words affected the learning of these words. It was presumed that the reduced comprehension of semantic fea-tures of the words was associated with the difficulty of word usage. Therefore, this semantic impairment should be taken into concideration in the therapy program for the difficulty of word usage in anomic patients.