A computer-based microworld for the assessment and remediation of sentence processing deficits in aphasia.

This thesis investigates impairments of written sentence comprehension in 14 aphasic adults. The primary purpose of the research was to apply computer technology to the process of assessment, with the aim of improving diagnostic precision and thereby being able to offer better-targeted and more effective treatment. To facilitate the study of sentence processing disorders a microworld was developed, populated solely by animate and inanimate balls, boxes and stars. This medium had two major advantages over natural English. Firstly, the restricted vocabulary and the small set of grammatical structures used permitted finer control of the linguistic environment, and secondly, all the test sentences were fully…