ABSTRACT

The impact of therapy on constrained sentence production is often considered, with some studies also looking at change in connected speech. As for nouns, therapy for verb retrieval has focused on improving access to the word's meaning, improving access to the lexical representation or strengthening the connection between the semantic system and the phonological output lexicon. With consideration of nouns that are semantically related to verbs and how they might be used in sentences, these tasks target verb argument structure alongside verb retrieval. The chapter contrasts the effects of three different types of verb retrieval therapy: phonologic, semantic and rehearsal therapies. The therapy approach combines work on verb retrieval and sentence production. Neither participant showed improved noun naming suggesting specific verb retrieval training effect. Therapy aimed to improve verb retrieval with the expectation of generalised gains in sentence production. Gains in verb retrieval were most evident in people with Wernicke's aphasia.