Balancing Effortful and Errorless Learning in Naming Treatment for Aphasia

ConditionsAphasiaStroke
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phasePhase 2
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18+
SponsorUniversity of Pittsburgh

About this trial

Aphasia is a language disorder caused by stroke and other acquired brain injuries that affects over two million people in the United States and which interferes with life participation and quality of life. Anomia (i.e., word- finding difficulty) is a primary frustration for people with aphasia. Picture-based naming treatments for anomia are widely used in aphasia rehabilitation, but current treatment approaches do not address the long-term retention of naming abilities and do not focus on using these naming abilities in daily life. The current research aims to evaluate novel anomia treatment approaches to improve long-term retention and generalization to everyday life.

This study is one of two that are part of a larger grant. This record is for sub-study 1, which will adaptively balance effort and accuracy using speeded naming deadlines.

Eligibility criteria

Qualifiers

Existing diagnosis of chronic (>6 months) aphasia subsequent to left hemisphere ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke.

Impaired performance on 2/8 sections of the Comprehensive Aphasia Test.

Disqualifiers

History of other acquired or progressive neurological disease.

Significant language comprehension impairments

Unmanaged drug / alcohol dependence.

Severe diagnosed mood or behavioral disorders that require specialize mental health interventions.

Trial design

Treatments tested in this trial

  • Accuracy-maximized condition
  • Effort-maximized condition
  • Effort-accuracy balanced condition

Treatment groups

30 Participants
are divided into 6 treatment groups

6

Treatment groups

See each treatment group below.

Sponsors and collaborators

University of Pittsburgh

Lead sponsor

University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Collaborator

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)

Collaborator