Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Penn State University, University Park, PA.
Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, San Francisco State University, CA.
Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2020 Aug 4;29(3):1574-1595. doi: 10.1044/2020_AJSLP-19-00066. Epub 2020 Jul 6.
Purpose We report on a study that replicates previous treatment studies using Abstract Semantic Associative Network Training (AbSANT), which was developed to help persons with aphasia improve their ability to retrieve abstract words, as well as thematically related concrete words. We hypothesized that previous results would be replicated; that is, when abstract words are trained using this protocol, improvement would be observed for both abstract and concrete words in the same context-category, but when concrete words are trained, no improvement for abstract words would be observed. We then frame the results of this study with the results of previous studies that used AbSANT to provide better evidence for the utility of this therapeutic technique. We also discuss proposed mechanisms of AbSANT. Method Four persons with aphasia completed one phase of concrete word training and one phase of abstract word training using the AbSANT protocol. Effect sizes were calculated for each word type for each phase. Effect sizes for this study are compared with the effect sizes from previous studies. Results As predicted, training abstract words resulted in both direct training and generalization effects, whereas training concrete words resulted in only direct training effects. The reported results are consistent across studies. Furthermore, when the data are compared across studies, there is a distinct pattern of the added benefit of training abstract words using AbSANT. Conclusion Treatment for word retrieval in aphasia is most often aimed at concrete words, despite the usefulness and pervasiveness of abstract words in everyday conversation. We show the utility of AbSANT as a means of improving not only abstract word retrieval but also concrete word retrieval and hope this evidence will help foster its application in clinical practice.
我们报告了一项使用抽象语义联想网络训练（AbSANT）进行的研究，该研究复制了先前的治疗研究，AbSANT 旨在帮助失语症患者提高检索抽象词以及主题相关具体词的能力。我们假设先前的结果会得到复制；也就是说，当使用该方案训练抽象词时，在同一上下文类别中，不仅抽象词，而且具体词都会得到改善，但当训练具体词时，抽象词则不会得到改善。然后，我们将本研究的结果与使用 AbSANT 的先前研究的结果结合起来，为这种治疗技术的实用性提供更好的证据。我们还讨论了 AbSANT 的拟议机制。
四名失语症患者使用 AbSANT 协议完成了一轮具体词训练和一轮抽象词训练。为每个阶段的每种词型计算了效果大小。本研究的效果大小与先前研究的效果大小进行了比较。
正如预测的那样，训练抽象词不仅产生了直接训练效果，而且还产生了泛化效果，而训练具体词仅产生了直接训练效果。研究结果在各研究中具有一致性。此外，当跨研究比较数据时，使用 AbSANT 训练抽象词的附加益处具有明显的模式。
尽管抽象词在日常会话中非常有用且普遍，但失语症的词汇检索治疗通常主要针对具体词。我们展示了 AbSANT 的实用性，它不仅可以改善抽象词检索，还可以改善具体词检索，我们希望这一证据将有助于促进其在临床实践中的应用。
