Theoretical and methodological issues in the cognitive neuropsychology of spoken word production

Abstract

This paper reviews the ''state of the art'' in the cognitive neuropsychology of spoken word production. It first examines current theoretical issues, specifically addressing the questions: How many levels of processing are there in word production? How does activation flow between levels of processing? What is the relationship between spoken word production and other aspects of language processing? What is the relationship between phonology for lexical and non-lexical forms? The discussion then turns to methodological issues in cognitive neuropsychology, contrasting group, case series, and single case study approaches. Finally, a detailed examination is made of different types of case series approach.