Errorless and errorful learning in people with aphasia across novel-object pairing and word retrieval tasks

Findings are consistent with prior research that suggests that successful effortful retrieval may pose an advantage over errorless learning when acquiring novel information and the potential contributions of verbal short-term memory and nonverbal long term memory on learning. Results from the word retrieval practice task draw attention to differences between practicing lexical access and novel learning. The lack of an errorful advantage in word retrieval may alternatively be due to task design and merits further research. Results support the hypothesis that people with aphasia display variable learning profiles that may stem from differences in underlying cognitive-linguistic abilities. Continuing research is needed to characterize learning in aphasia to consider its potential influence on rehabilitation outcomes and support speech-language pathologists in considering and accounting for different learning and cognitive-linguistic abilities when individualizing treatment decisions.