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A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of - Queen Margaret University

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<strong>in</strong>fluenc<strong>in</strong>g factors (for example, age, education, emotional and cognitive status)<br />

and with the exception <strong>of</strong> the severity <strong>of</strong> aphasia it was difficult to objectively<br />

identify which <strong>of</strong> these factors impacted upon the ability to learn and to what<br />

degree. The severity <strong>of</strong> aphasia appeared to negatively impact upon<br />

assessment performance. Participants who were unable to speak or write were<br />

unable to complete tasks that required spoken or written responses, appear<strong>in</strong>g<br />

to place them at a disadvantage compared to more verbal participants. Table<br />

5.2 (see section 5.3) presents participant scores obta<strong>in</strong>ed from all tasks not<br />

requir<strong>in</strong>g spoken and written responses. The rank<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> C1, C5, C8, C9, C10,<br />

C11 rema<strong>in</strong>ed the same despite C9-C11 hav<strong>in</strong>g the most severe language<br />

impairment <strong>of</strong> the 12 participants. The scores <strong>of</strong> participants whose rank<strong>in</strong>g<br />

changed as a result <strong>of</strong> the removal <strong>of</strong> spoken and written assessment scores<br />

only varied by 2-6%. Therefore, the orig<strong>in</strong>al immediate recall total (i.e. <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g<br />

spoken and written tasks) was considered reflective <strong>of</strong> the overall ability to learn<br />

the new vocabulary by participants. As the severity <strong>of</strong> aphasia did not expla<strong>in</strong><br />

the wide variation <strong>in</strong> participant performance <strong>in</strong> demonstrat<strong>in</strong>g the new learn<strong>in</strong>g<br />

it was important to evaluate other factors <strong>in</strong> an attempt to expla<strong>in</strong> this variation. It<br />

was decided to evaluate if those factors considered to impact upon recovery<br />

from aphasia also impacted upon the ability to learn new vocabulary.<br />

The next section <strong>of</strong> this chapter exam<strong>in</strong>es the total raw scores from participants’<br />

immediate recall performance <strong>in</strong> order to observe if particular clusters or groups<br />

<strong>of</strong> participants emerge who learned the new vocabulary equally as well as each<br />

other. If so, hypotheses will be formed to evaluate the possible variables that<br />

divide these groups <strong>of</strong> participants (e.g. personal attributes, cognitive abilities<br />

and severity <strong>of</strong> aphasia). The tasks and stimuli that were employed <strong>in</strong> the ma<strong>in</strong><br />

<strong>in</strong>vestigation were also appraised <strong>in</strong> terms <strong>of</strong> their contribution to the scores.<br />

Reliability between the four learn<strong>in</strong>g sessions is also recorded.<br />

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