The production effect in adults with dysarthria: improving long-term verbal memory by vocal production

Michal Icht, Orly Bergerzon-Biton, Yaniv Mama

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

People show better memory for words read aloud relative to words read silently, the Production Effect (PE). Vocalisation at study makes the produced (aloud) words more distinct than the non-produced (silent) words, hence more memorable. Such encoding distinctiveness is related to the additional processing of aloud words that is later used during retrieval. This study investigated the PE in dysarthric adults, characterised by speech production difficulties. Their memory performance (recognition) was compared to a group of healthy adults. Results showed a PE for both groups. The production benefit was significantly larger for the dysarthric adults, despite their overall memory performance being reduced relative to controls. The results demonstrate long-term verbal memory deficits in dysarthria, and suggest that vocalisation (although impaired) may assist in remembering. Hence, vocalisation may be used in intervention contexts with this population, to compensate for memory decrease.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)131-143
Number of pages13
JournalNeuropsychological Rehabilitation
Volume29
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2 Jan 2019

Keywords

  • Dysarthria
  • encoding distinctiveness
  • long-term memory
  • production effect
  • word recognition

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
  • Rehabilitation
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Applied Psychology

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