Agrammatic output in non-fluent, including Broca’s, aphasia as a rational behavior

Fedorenko, Evelina; Ryskin, Rachel; Gibson, Edward

doi:10.1080/02687038.2022.2143233

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 162 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For instance, during discussions about personal experiences such as strokes, individuals with Broca's Aphasia often provide minimal details, emphasizing the impact rather than specific events [14]. This conciseness aligns with agrammatism and telegraphic speech, characteristic of Broca's Aphasia, where individuals strive to balance cognitive effort and conveyed information [15].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Pragmatic Deficits in Broca’s Aphasia Through Relevance Theory

2024

New Adv Brain & Critical Care

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article delves into applying Sperber and Wilson’s Relevance Theory (2006) as a framework for comprehending language deficits in individuals diagnosed with Broca’s Aphasia. The theoretical foundation elucidates how communication difficulties characteristic of Broca’s Aphasia can be understood through optimizing relevance in discourse. It explores the efficacy of Relevance Theory in explicating the challenges faced by individuals with Broca’s Aphasia in expressing and processing linguistic information. Relevance Theory posits communication as a cognitive endeavor wherein speakers aim to maximize relevance, balancing cognitive effort and informational load. Methodologically, the study employs qualitative analysis of interactions between individuals with Broca’s Aphasia and interviewers. Using a corpus of three transcripts of language assessments retrieved from the Aphasia Bank database (MacWhinney et al., 2000), the research employs a qualitative linguistic analysis. Applying this framework to Broca’s Aphasia, characterized by expressive language impairments, offers insights into the pragmatic strategies employed by individuals to convey meaning. Findings underscore the benefits of employing Relevance Theory in elucidating language deficits, providing a better understanding of the pragmatic challenges faced by individuals with Broca’s Aphasia. However, the application of this theory also reveals challenges, particularly in accounting for the diverse and context-specific nature of language impairments within this population. In conclusion, the study advocates for the development of a specialized framework tailored to the unique language challenges inherent in Broca’s Aphasia.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Pragmatic Deficits in Broca’s Aphasia Through Relevance Theory

2024

New Adv Brain & Critical Care

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The noisy-channel hypothesis of language processing has also accumulated empirical support from a wide range of phenomena. It can be seen to explain reading behaviors in aphasia (Fedorenko et al, 2022;Gibson et al, 2016), language illusions Zhang, Ryskin, et al, 2023), and cross-linguistic comprehension of implausible sentences (e.g., Poliak et al, 2023;Zhan et al, 2023).…”

Section: Schematic Representation Of the Noisy Channel Model Of Commu...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative illusions are evidence of rational inference in language comprehension

Zhang,

Kauf,

Levy

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

During language comprehension, people sometimes accept sentences that are ungrammatical or semantically implausible and the cognitive mechanism underlying this language illusion is understudied. In this paper, we study the “comparative illusion” (CI) phenomenon where people believe the sentence "More people have been to Russia than I have" to be acceptable while in fact it is semantically ill-formed. We provide a potential explanation for the reasons behind the language illusion from the noisy-channel framework. We hypothesize that comprehenders make rational inference over the perceived sentence by entertaining alternative plausible interpretations and weighing the likelihood of the plausible interpretation being produced with errors. In four experiments, we identified the construction that elicited the most salient illusion effect, established the range of the plausible interpretations, and found that the probability for comprehenders to assign a certain plausible interpretation to the CI sentence is proportional to how likely they think that that interpretation is encapsulated into the CI sentence during speech production. This finding is consistent with the noisy-channel predictions and provides another example supporting the rational behavior underlying language comprehension.

show abstract

“…In summary, there are numerous compelling reasons to re-envision PSA-G within a theoretical framework that accommodates and integrates several findings that are unaddressed by current theories. Other authors have also recently revisited the theoretical framework of PSA-G (Dyson, Hakansson & Ballard, 2022;Fedorenko, Ryskin & Gibson, 2022).…”

Section: Extant Theories Of Psa-gmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Examples of related theories Difference(s) with SPB Persons with PSA-G will not show an isolated morphosyntactic deficit, but additional deficits in processing capacity and phonomotor planning resulting from LIFG lesion Phonological Simplification (Kean, 1977) results in omission of bound morphemes SPB implicates both phonological and motor planning ("phonomotor") vulnerabilities; the totality of morphosyntactic and phonomotor processing demands shape utterance wellformedness Relative to PSA-LS, PSA-G will show a delayed timecourse for morphosyntactic, verb, and phonomotor planning Time-based approaches (Friederici, 1995;Kolk, 1995;Swinney & Zurif, 1995) suggest that slowed activation (or fast decay) of lexical representations affects syntactic structure building, or that constituent assembly is slowed (Burkhardt et al, 2008). While most theories focus on comprehension, Kolk (1995) addresses both comprehension and production SPB is production-focused; specifies three processes that are susceptible to delays; proposes a resultant cumulative bottleneck at the point of articulatory planning; and is more explicit about differences between aphasia subtypes Processing capacity reductions will be steeper in PSA-G relative to PSA-LS, and will interact with processing load manipulations Economy of effort (Pick, 1913), Division of labor (Gordon & Dell, 2003), Processability theory (Dyson et al, 2022), Rational behavior (Fedorenko et al, 2022); these theories either directly or indirectly imply processing limitations in PSA-G; and accommodate utterancelevel differences in processing costs SPB more explicitly differentiates processing capacity (static ability) from processing load (momentary); identifies specific instances and behaviors associated with processing limitations An "articulatory bottleneck" will be evident in the speaking rate and disfluencies of PSA-G none Difficulty with activating verb representations and fulfilling verb argument structure (VAS) Argument Structure Complexity Hypothesis (Thompson, 2003) proposes difficulties in accessing verbs for production according to VAS hierarchy VAS is one of many linguistic variables that affect processing load; greater emphasis is placed on uncoordinated timing of verb and VAS elements…”

Section: Spb Predictionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A reconceptualization of sentence production in post-stroke agrammatic aphasia: the synergistic processing bottleneck model

Faroqi‐Shah

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The language production deficit in post-stroke agrammatic aphasia (PSA-G) tends to result from lesions to the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) and is characterized by a triad of symptoms: fragmented sentences, errors in functional morphology, and a dearth of verbs. Despite decades of research, the mechanisms underlying production patterns in PSA-G have been difficult to characterize. Two major impediments to progress may have been the view that it is a purely morphosyntactic disorder and the (sometimes overzealous) application of linguistic theory without interceding psycholinguistic evidence. In this paper, empirical evidence is examined to present an integrated portrait of language production in PSA-G and to evaluate the assumption of a syntax-specific syndrome. In light of extant evidence, it is proposed that agrammatic language production results from a combination of morphosyntactic, phonomotor, and processing capacity limitations that cause a cumulative processing bottleneck at the point of articulatory planning. This proposed Synergistic Processing Bottleneck model of PSA-G presents a testable framework for future research. The paper ends with recommendations for future research on PSA-G.

show abstract

Agrammatic output in non-fluent, including Broca’s, aphasia as a rational behavior

Cited by 14 publications

References 162 publications

Exploring Pragmatic Deficits in Broca’s Aphasia Through Relevance Theory

Exploring Pragmatic Deficits in Broca’s Aphasia Through Relevance Theory

Comparative illusions are evidence of rational inference in language comprehension

A reconceptualization of sentence production in post-stroke agrammatic aphasia: the synergistic processing bottleneck model

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About