Lexical and sublexical processing in aphasia

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between lexical and sublexical processes which are said to be involved in the production of words for spoken output. A group of aphasics with relatively homogeneous auditory comprehension and visual processing skills were required to name sets of pictures and then sort them on the basis of phonemic similarity. Some of the pictures were also orthographically similar to one another. Results showed that many aphasic subjects had difficulty sorting the pictured words phonologically but their ability to sort was better if they were able to name the word. Orthography of the word did not enhance sorting performance. These findings gave support for the notion that lexical and sublexical processing of spoken words can independently be impaired in aphasia but that the ability to use sublexical phonological skills is dependent on access to the phonological output lexicon. Therapeutic implications of these findings are also discussed.