Schuchard Julia, Nerantzini Michaela, Thompson Cynthia K
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University.
Aphasiology. 2017;31(1):25-48. doi: 10.1080/02687038.2016.1147526. Epub 2016 Feb 19.
Implicit learning is a process of learning that occurs outside of conscious awareness and may be involved in implicit, exposure-based language training. However, research shows that implicit learning abilities are variable among individuals with aphasia, and it remains unknown whether individuals who show basic implicit learning abilities also benefit from implicit language training.
The aims of this series of experiments were to test implicit learning in individuals with agrammatic aphasia, examine the effects of a novel implicit language treatment, and investigate whether individuals with aphasia who show implicit learning ability also benefit from implicit treatment focused on passive sentence comprehension.
METHODS & PROCEDURES: Nine participants with chronic agrammatic aphasia and 21 neurologically intact participants completed a visuomotor serial reaction time test of implicit learning (Experiment 1). The participants with aphasia also completed a short-term novel implicit sentence comprehension treatment (Experiment 2) that consisted of five sessions of repeated exposure to grammatically correct passive sentences and matching photographs. Sentence comprehension was tested in multiple baseline sessions and on each day of training using a sentence-picture matching task. The relation between participants' learning patterns across experiments was also examined.
OUTCOMES & RESULTS: Individuals with agrammatic aphasia as well as neurologically intact adults demonstrated significant implicit sequence learning in the serial reaction time task. However, the participants with aphasia did not show concomitant improvement in sentence comprehension as a result of the implicit treatment protocol.
This study suggests that individuals with agrammatic aphasia demonstrate implicit learning ability; however, this ability does not necessarily promote successful outcomes in treatment that is based solely on implicit training methods.
内隐学习是一种在意识觉知之外发生的学习过程，可能参与基于接触的内隐语言训练。然而，研究表明失语症患者的内隐学习能力存在个体差异，而且具有基本内隐学习能力的个体是否也能从内隐语言训练中获益仍不明确。
这一系列实验的目的是测试语法缺失性失语症患者的内隐学习，检验一种新型内隐语言治疗的效果，并调查具有内隐学习能力的失语症患者是否也能从侧重于被动句理解的内隐治疗中获益。
9名慢性语法缺失性失语症患者和21名神经功能正常的参与者完成了一项内隐学习的视觉运动序列反应时测试（实验1）。失语症患者还完成了一项短期新型内隐句子理解治疗（实验2），该治疗包括五个疗程，反复接触语法正确的被动句并匹配图片。在多个基线疗程以及训练的每一天，使用句子 - 图片匹配任务测试句子理解。还检查了各实验中参与者学习模式之间的关系。
语法缺失性失语症患者以及神经功能正常的成年人在序列反应时任务中均表现出显著的内隐序列学习。然而，失语症患者并未因内隐治疗方案而在句子理解方面有相应改善。
本研究表明语法缺失性失语症患者具有内隐学习能力；然而，这种能力不一定能促进仅基于内隐训练方法的治疗取得成功结果。
