Effectiveness of personalised and phonological cueing on long-term naming performance by aphasic subjects: A clinical investigation

Background: Personalised cueing is a treatment for aphasic word-finding deficits that has been shown to have long-term effects on naming accuracy. However, prior investigations of personalised cueing used novel visual stimuli instead of the more traditional pictures and drawings used in clinical settings. Consequently, the clinical effectiveness of personalised cueing was unclear. Aims: This study compared the effects of personalised cueing and phonological cueing on aphasic individuals' long-term naming accuracy using stimuli that are typical of those used in clinical treatments. Methods & Procedures: Using a single-subject, alternating treatments design, this study trained three individuals with moderately severe aphasia on the names of 60 common objects. The training sessions were followed by naming probes administered 1 week, 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months after the completion of training. Outcomes & Results: The results showed that the three participants had significantly higher levels of naming accuracy in the personalised cue condition up to 3 months post training compared to the phonological cue condition and an untrained control condition. Conclusions: This study suggests that personalised cueing can be used as a simple, time-efficient treatment for the word-finding deficits associated with aphasia of moderate severity.