ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the second category of surface dyslexia, in which semantic access is preserved. It presents a case study of B.F, who is 32 year-old woman who entered the neurosurgery ward on 22 February 1978 having sustained an embolic cerebrovascular accident. B.F. was presented with a list of 180 written items, half words and half non-words. B.F. had higher scores on consistent words than on inconsistent words and on consistent non-words than on inconsistent non-words. B.F.'s notable difficulty with inconsistent words, together with the nature of her misreadings, indicated a surface dyslexic pattern of performance. B.F. was submitted to a routine naming test for 20 objects and 20 pictures on 26 September 1978. The fact that a number of inconsistent words are correctly read could possibly be explained by the same relatively simple interpretation: their correct reading could be attributed to the use of the direct semantic route.