This project aims to examine the effects of treatment for verb production deficits found in non-fluent aphasic individuals, as a first step in developing a clinically efficacious treatment approach for sentence production deficits in aphasia. In this project we will test the hypothesis that training verbs in association with noun arguments frequently associated with them will lead to faster acquisition and better retention over time than training single verbs as is often done in traditional verb treatment. In addition, we propose to show that our treatment approach (i.e., Semantically Enhanced Verb Retrieval Treatment - SEVR) will result in greater improvement in various aspects of production, including verb production and sentence production, than single verb training approach. Improved sentence production will likely result in improved communication, and potentially lead to improved social participation and satisfaction with life in individuals with aphasia (addressing the goals of Healthy People 2010 Focus Area 6: Disability and Secondary Conditions). To achieve our goal, we will compare the traditional, repetition-based verb treatment approach to SEVR treatment, using single-subject crossover treatment design with multiple baselines across behaviors. All participants will receive both treatments consecutively, following baselines. The order of treatment presentation will be counterbalanced across participants. The effects of the two treatments will be compared using the participants' performance on trained verb retrieval. Potential generalization will be examined by analyzing the participant's retrieval of untrained verbs, sentence production involving successfully retrieved verbs, and their narrative production. The effect of the treatment on the communication behaviors of the participants outside treatment will be assessed via a social validation measure (i.e., Communicative Effectiveness Index), to document potential improvement in social participation.
