Reading and writing in pure agraphia: Implications for the common lexicon theory
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1
Seton Hall University, United States
The ‘common lexicon’ theory postulates that one single lexicon subserves both speech and writing (Coltheart & Funnell, 1987; Rapcsak & Beeson, 2002). This theory needs to be investigated further because it rests on data obtained from a few cases with brain lesions. Moreover, case reports on relatively isolated agraphia appear to challenge the common lexicon theory because such cases do not demonstrate significant problems in reading and speaking. However, there are only a few comprehensive, model oriented studies of isolated agraphia (Luzzi, S., & Piccirilli, M., 2003., Miceli, Silveri & Caramazza, 1985). Hence, the objectives of the current study were 1) to report a case of isolated agraphia whose native language was English, and 2) to discuss the agraphic errors in terms of the cognitive models of writing (Rapp, 2000). PP, a 65-year-old female with a history of stroke induced lesion in the left temporo-parietal regions, served as the subject of this study. The present study used two test batteries: 1) Boston Naming Test (Goodglass & Kaplan, 1983), and 2) The John Hopkins Dysgraphia Battery (Goodman & Caramazza, 1986). The Boston Naming Test (BNT) is a test that targets picture naming ability of subjects. It consists of sixty stimulus pictures that represent names of high, mid, and low frequency of occurrence. The Johns Hopkins University Dysgraphia Battery (JHUDB) consists of several subtests that assess the cognitive processes (lexical, post-lexical and sub-lexical) underlying graphic performance at word level. Five subtests that were utilized in the present study include: 1) Concreteness, 2) Parts of speech, 3) Word length, 4) written naming, and 5) Copy transcoding. At this point, there are no norms available for the experimental version of JHUDB. PP performed at 80% accuracy level in naming a total of 60 pictures of BNT. Her error patterns included both phonemic and semantic paraphasias. In picture naming, PP received few stimulus cues and phonemic cues. PP’s scores on five subtests of JHUDB are as follows: 1) written naming: 3.9% (2/51), 2) word length: 0% (0/70), 3) concreteness: 0% (0/42), 4) parts of speech: 0% (0/138), and 5) copy transcoding: 100% (62/62). PP’s error patterns included large number of partial responses that included the first letter of the target word and graphemes that are not part of the target word. PP also produced several phonologically implausible non-words. These error patterns seem to suggest that PP’s functional lesion must be in the graphemic buffer (Rapp, 2000). The case of relatively isolated agraphia reported in the current study seems to run counter to the claim that both verbal production (naming, reading) and (written production) spelling are subserved by a single common lexicon.
Conference:
10th International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience, Bodrum, Türkiye, 1 Sep - 5 Sep, 2008.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Language
Citation:
Balasubramanian
V
(2008). Reading and writing in pure agraphia: Implications for the common lexicon theory.
Conference Abstract:
10th International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience.
doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.09.2009.01.237
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Received:
09 Dec 2008;
Published Online:
09 Dec 2008.
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Correspondence:
Venu Balasubramanian, Seton Hall University, New Jersey, United States, balasuve@shu.edu