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No negative impact of word retraining on vocabulary use or clarity of communication in Semantic Dementia

Word retraining techniques can improve picture naming of treated items in people with semantic dementia (SD). The utility of this, however, has been questioned given the propensity for under- and overgeneralisation errors in naming in SD. Few studies have investigated the occurrence of such errors. This study examined whether, following tailored word retraining: 1) misuse of words increases, 2) the type of naming errors changes, and/or 3) clarity of communication is reduced. Performance on trained and untrained word naming from nine participants with SD who completed a word retraining program were analysed. Responses from baseline and post-intervention assessments were coded for misuse (i.e., trained word produced for another target item), error type, and communication clarity. All participants showed significant improvement for trained vocabulary. There was no significant increase in misuse of words, with such errors occurring rarely. At a group level, there was an increased tendency toward omission errors for untrained items, and a reduction in semantically related responses. However, this did not impact on clarity scores with no consistent change across participants. In sum, we found no negative impacts following tailored word retraining, providing further evidence of the benefit of these programs for individuals with SD.