Effects of personalised cue form on the learning of subordinate category names by aphasic and non-brain-damaged subjects

Background. Personalised cueing is a training method designed to facilitate naming of unknown, realistic visual stimuli (dog breed names). Creation of a personalised cue is similar to the use of mnemonic devices by normal individuals to remember important bits of information. Theoretical support for the method comes from Craik and Lockhart's depth-of-processing model of memory (1972). Several studies have shown that training with personalised cueing methods results in significantly higher levels of long-term naming accuracy than when subjects are trained with phonological cueing techniques. However, it has also been observed that all individuals are not equally proficient in creating personalised cues and that the nature of the information in personalised cues varies markedly from individual to individual. Aims. The objective of this study was to determine if the type of information contained in a personalised cue (cue form) affects the degree to which these cues facilitate learning of subordinate categor...