Short-term and Working Memory Impairments in Aphasia

Research in language processing and language impairment has focused extensively on elements of linguistic representation that are accessed and retrieved in comprehension, repetition and production of words and sentences. These studies have provided important information about the effects of characteristics of words (e.g., frequency, imageability) and sentences (e.g., syntactic and semantic argument structure) on language processing. A smaller but nonetheless rapidly growing body of research has been directed to understanding those cognitive processes that mediate access, maintenance and retrieval of those representations. The papers in this book focus on theoretical accounts of the role of short-term memory and working memory in language processing as well as clinical applications that reflect a focus on these mechanisms of cognitive support to language processing. Each paper provides a theoretical perspective on or clinical application of the most current empirical evidence regarding the role of cognitive processes in relation to language processing. Also common to each paper is an acknowledgement of the need for additional theoretical and clinical research in this area. Although in its relative infancy, research addressing relations between language and other cognitive processes is integral for advancing our understanding of the dynamic nature of language impairment in aphasia and also for directly informing its treatment. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Aphasiology.