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A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of - Queen Margaret University

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language system. Intervention for cognitive impairments has been reported to be<br />

successful for both improv<strong>in</strong>g cognitive function<strong>in</strong>g as well as decreas<strong>in</strong>g<br />

severity <strong>of</strong> aphasia (Helm-Estabrooks, 1998). Therefore the treatment <strong>of</strong> higher<br />

order cognitive impairments should precede language rehabilitation (Van<br />

Mourik, Verschaeve, Boon, Paquier and Van Harskamp, 1992) or at least the<br />

provision <strong>of</strong> support which may facilitate the expression <strong>of</strong> other relatively <strong>in</strong>tact<br />

abilities (Manley, Hawk<strong>in</strong>s, Evans, Woldt and Roberston, 2001). Higher order<br />

processes are not yet completely understood. Currently there are a number <strong>of</strong><br />

researchers <strong>in</strong>vestigat<strong>in</strong>g the fractionation <strong>of</strong> higher order processes with a view<br />

to develop<strong>in</strong>g a comprehensive theory which is anticipated to result <strong>in</strong> more<br />

successful <strong>in</strong>strumentation, for example, <strong>in</strong>telligence (Anderson, 2001), theory <strong>of</strong><br />

m<strong>in</strong>d (Stone, 1999), social cognition (Lough, Kipps, Treise, Watson, Blair and<br />

Hodges, <strong>in</strong> press) and higher cognitive process impairment observed <strong>in</strong><br />

dementia (Salmon and Hodges, 2005).<br />

6.3.4 Language ability<br />

The language abilities <strong>of</strong> participants were observed us<strong>in</strong>g a number <strong>of</strong><br />

language assessments. The pre-tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g language screen<strong>in</strong>g assessment was<br />

compiled by the researcher and <strong>in</strong>cluded extracts from published assessments<br />

and picture stimuli from the literature to evaluate both spoken and written s<strong>in</strong>gle<br />

word process<strong>in</strong>g abilities (see section 4.2.3). The language sub-test <strong>of</strong> the CLQT<br />

assessed the spoken language abilities <strong>of</strong> participants with tasks such as giv<strong>in</strong>g<br />

personal facts (i.e. name, address, date <strong>of</strong> birth etc.), confrontational nam<strong>in</strong>g,<br />

story retell<strong>in</strong>g and generative nam<strong>in</strong>g (see section 4.2.2.1). Additionally,<br />

participants were asked to narrate the C<strong>in</strong>derella story both <strong>in</strong> spoken and<br />

written form. The C<strong>in</strong>derella story was not analysed but rather provided<br />

qualitative data on participant language <strong>in</strong> connected speech (see section<br />

4.4.4.2 and Appendices 5.3a to 5.3h).<br />

257

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