Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2017, Speech Language Pathology

The current study aims to determine if overlearning exposure and performance are related to the maintenance of treatment stimuli in a cued picture-naming treatment in adults with aphasia. Ten individuals with chronic aphasia were asked to name 40 black and white picture stimuli during stimulus probes prior to cued picture-naming treatment on each day of an eight session therapy block. The amount of overlearning and the accuracy achieved during the overlearning trials that occurred for each stimulus item were calculated. Each participant's accuracy per stimulus item during probes on three maintenance sessions three months post treatment was also calculated. Overlearning exposure and overlearning performance were both highly correlated with maintenance of probed items after three months. Future research needs to be done to better determine the effects of overlearning conditions on maintenance of trained items. Clinically, speech therapists may be missing an opportunity to increase learning and maintenance of items by dismissing goals upon mastery. Introducing an overlearning scenario may boost treatment outcomes in this and other populations in the field.

Committee: Stacy Harnish Ph.D (Advisor); Allison Bean Ellawadi Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Speech Therapy