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An investigation into the extent to which semantic, phonemic and perceptual sequences aid word- retrieval in damaged language centres

This dissertation aimed to substantiate research regarding the efficaciousness of semantic, phonemic and perceptual prompts to treat word-retrieval deficits within clinical instances of aphasia. I approached this task by digitally organising sets of interrelated images, each belonging to one of the aforementioned categories, and sporadically inserting violations to an equal number of semantic, phonemic and perceptual sequences. I hypothesised that the greater length of time a participant required to name a distractor, the more receptive they became to the preceding pattern. In addition, I opted to limit my verbal assistance to cues of a semantic or phonemic nature, and used the participants’ responsiveness to these independent triggering strategies to gauge the effect of my contributions. Furthermore, I discuss salient paraphasias within my data which support or challenge pre-held assumptions regarding what may cause them. My findings, complete with cases of pseudo-word coinage, perseveration and internal sound substitution, demonstrate support for the initiation of semantic prompting to assist speech therapists in tackling an aphasiac's anomic occurrences.