Linguistics Colloquium: Michal Biran

Michal Biran, University of Haifa

Title: From theory to the clinic: Models of lexical retrieval and types of anomia
 
Abstract: Various models of lexical retrieval suggest that the lexical retrieval proceeds in several stages
(e.g., Butterworth, 1989; Dell, 1986; Garrett, 1992; Levelt, 1989, 1992; Patterson & Shewell,
1987). First, a conceptual representation is formed, which is still not verbally formulated. The
following lexical access has two consecutive stages – a semantic lexicon, which includes
information about the word's meaning, and a phonological lexicon, which includes information
about the structure of the word (number of syllables and stress pattern) and its segments. Then,
the information is transferred to the phonological buffer, in which the segments are inserted into
the word frame.

Naming deficits (anomia) may result from a deficit in each of these levels. The deficits in the
different levels have different characteristics (Biran & Friedmann, 2005; Ellis & Young, 1996;
Friedmann, Biran, & Dotan, 2013; Lambon Ralph, Sage, & Roberts, 2000; Nickels, 1997). The
diagnosis of a deficit in one of the different levels is based on the analysis of naming errors types,
effects on naming, and various language tasks that can support a deficit in each level.
The diagnosis of the specific deficit of each individual with a naming deficit is important for
planning the appropriate treatment for him, according to his specific deficit.

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