Test-enhanced Learning Versus Errorless Learning in Aphasia Rehabilitation: Testing Competing Psychological Principles

Overview

Journal J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn

Publisher American Psychological Association

Specialty Psychology

Date 2014 Dec 22

PMID 25528093

Citations 29

Authors

Erica L Middleton

Myrna F Schwartz

Katherine A Rawson

Kelly Garvey

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Because individuals with acquired language disorders are frequently unable to reliably access the names of common everyday objects (i.e., naming impairment), rehabilitation efforts often focus on improving naming. The present study compared 2 rehabilitation strategies for naming impairment, reflecting contradictory prescriptions derived from different theoretical principles. The prescription derived from psychological research on test-enhanced learning advocates providing patients opportunities to retrieve target names from long-term memory (i.e., retrieval practice) in the course of treatment. In contrast, the errorless learning approach derived from cognitive rehabilitation research eschews retrieval practice in favor of methods that minimize naming errors, and thus the potential for error learning, in the course of treatment. The present study directly compared these approaches and showed that, despite superior (and errorless) performance during errorless treatment, treatment that prioritized retrieval practice produced greater retention 1-day and 1-week following treatment. These findings have implications for clinical practice, as well as theoretical accounts of lexical access and test-enhanced learning.

Citing Articles

An electrophysiological and behavioral investigation of feedback-based learning in aphasia.

Nunn K, Arbel Y, Vallila-Rohter S Aphasiology. 2024; 38(7):1195-1221.

PMID: 39148558 PMC: 11323110. DOI: 10.1080/02687038.2023.2267780.

Theory-driven treatment modifications: A discussion on meeting the linguistic, cognitive, and psychosocial needs of individual clients with aphasia.

Nunn K, Vallila-Rohter S J Commun Disord. 2023; 103:106327.

PMID: 37060857 PMC: 10247540. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2023.106327.

Errorless, Errorful, and Retrieval Practice for Naming Treatment in Aphasia: A Scoping Review of Learning Mechanisms and Treatment Ingredients.

Nunn K, Vallila-Rohter S, Middleton E J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2023; 66(2):668-687.

PMID: 36729701 PMC: 10023178. DOI: 10.1044/2022_JSLHR-22-00251.

Effortful Retrieval Practice Effects in Lexical Access: A Role for Semantic Competition.

Patra A, Traut H, Stabile M, Middleton E Lang Cogn Neurosci. 2022; 37(8):948-963.

PMID: 36419750 PMC: 9678354. DOI: 10.1080/23273798.2022.2027991.

An examination of retrieval practice and production training in the treatment of lexical-semantic comprehension deficits in aphasia.

Middleton E, Duquette K, Rawson K, Mirman D Neuropsychology. 2022; 36(8):730-752.

PMID: 36048069 PMC: 9976587. DOI: 10.1037/neu0000848.

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