Developmental word-finding difficulties and phonological processing: The case of the missing handcuffs

Author(s): Stackhouse, J., Wells, B.

Journal/Book: Appl Psycholinguist. 1997; 18: 40 West 20TH Street, New York, NY 10011-4211. Cambridge Univ Press. 507-536.

Abstract: The case of a 7-year-old boy (Michael) with severe word-finding difficulties is presented. In an attempt to investigate the cause of these difficulties, a series of theoretically motivated questions was used as a framework for psycholinguistic investigation. A range of tasks was administered, including word association, semantic knowledge, auditory discrimination, auditory lexical decision, naming, and real word and nonword repetition. Michael's performance on the tasks was compared with that of controls matched in terms of chronological and vocabulary age. Results revealed significant differences between Michael's performance and that of the control groups. Although he showed no apparent semantic deficit, he did show pervasive deficits in phonological processing. On the basis of analysis of his performance on matched items across tasks, it is argued that Michael's word-finding difficulties are the result of imprecise phonological representations and impaired links between the components of lexical representations. These deficits are interpreted as a developmental consequence of impaired input and output phonological processing.

Note: Article Constable A, Univ Coll London, Dept Human Commun, Chandler House, 2 Wakefield St, London WC1N 1PG, ENGLAND

Keyword(s): LANGUAGE-IMPAIRED CHILDREN; SPEECH-PERCEPTION; MEMORY; VOCABULARY; SEGMENTATION; ADOLESCENTS; CONSTRAINTS; BOUNDARIES; DISORDERS; DEFICITS

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