title: The production effect in adults with dysarthria: improving long-term verbal memory by vocal production.
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.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Communication Disorders , Ariel University , Ariel , Israel.
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Icht
authors.affiliation: b Bayit Balev Geriatric Rehabilitation Center , Bat Yam, Israel.
authors.forename: Orly
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bergerzon-Biton
authors.affiliation: c Department of Behavioral Science and Psychology , Ariel University , Ariel , Israel.
authors.forename: Yaniv
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mama
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D004401:Dysarthria / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D057567:Memory, Long-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011932:Reading; D013070:Speech Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D014706:Verbal Learning
keywords: Dysarthria; encoding distinctiveness; long-term memory; production effect; word recognition