When ‘Alfa Romeo’ facilitates 164: Semantic effects in verbal number production

Abstract

In this study we investigate the effect of different notations (arabic/alphabetical) and the effect of different tasks on the verbal production of number words. ZA, an aphasic and dyslexic patient, showed a significant improvement in the reading of alphabetical stimuli (number words, words, non-words), but not of arabic stimuli over a period of 3 years. Moreover, ZA's verbal number production was significantly better in semantic tasks that involved encyclopaedic knowledge of numbers and the transcoding of quantities than in asemantic reading tasks. The verbal number production in response to calculations (both arithmetic facts and complex calculations), on the other hand, did not differ from the performance in reading tasks. The results of this study are consistent with the assumption of semantic and asemantic routes in number transcoding.

Key Words:

• phonological dyslexia
• number reading
• semantic facilitation