Abstract
This paper reports the case of an aphasic patient, EE, with a problem in word retrieval. He is consistently unable to produce specific lexical items, which tend to be items of low rated familiarity. His retrieval of these words is not aided by the provision of phonemic cues or extra time for word retrieval. His errors consist primarily of failures to respond, and the provision of semantic information without any attempt at the target. It is argued that this pattern of performance is consistent with the loss of specific lexical items from a phonological lexicon for speech production.
EE is shown to have no impairment in auditory recognition and comprehension of the lexical items that are unavailable for naming. This dissociation is problematic for theories that propose a single phonological lexicon for both word recognition and production, but is easily accounted for by separate input and output lexicons.
This work was supported by the Medical Research Council. I am grateful to Lyndsey Nickels, Stephen Monsell, Andrew Ellis, and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on drafts of this paper.
Notes
This work was supported by the Medical Research Council. I am grateful to Lyndsey Nickels, Stephen Monsell, Andrew Ellis, and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on drafts of this paper.
