Self-Assessment Questions

This section provides a review. Mark each statement on the Answer Sheet according to the factual materials contained in this issue and the opinions of the authors.

Article One (pp. 1-9)

1. Speech-language pathologists who work with people who have aphasia view the number of discourse outcome measures that exist

   • As an opportunity to use many of them in their practice.

   • As a sign that discourse analysis is something that they are required to do if they work with people who have aphasia.

   • As a barrier to using discourse analysis in their practice.

   • As a sign that it will be easy to find a measure to use with a particular client.

   • As an indicator that the psychometric properties of discourse outcome measures must be well reported.

2. Which of the following is a factor to consider when choosing a discourse outcome measure for a particular client?

   • What time of day you will be seeing the client for treatment.

   • What aspect of discourse the treatment is expected to change.

   • Whether the client's aphasia has been assessed with a particular aphasia assessment battery.

   • How long ago the outcome measure was first reported in the literature.

   • Whether a t-test with a statistically significant difference has been reported in at least one study that used the outcome.

3. Which of the following is not something that needs to be considered in choosing a discourse outcome measure?

   • The availability of the materials necessary to administer the measure.

   • Whether there are studies that used the measure with people who have aphasia.

   • Whether the participants in studies that used the measure are similar to a client you plan to use the measure with.

   • Whether acceptable intra-rater reliability coefficient values have been reported for the measure.

   • The reputation of the authors who developed the measure.

4. Why should clinicians be as concerned as researchers about the psychometric properties of a discourse outcome measure?

   • The psychometric properties of an outcome measure reveal how likely the measure is to capture true, treatment-related change rather than random variability.

   • Third-party payers will only reimburse for treatment that uses outcome measures with sound psychometric properties.

   • The ASHA code of ethics mandates that only outcome measures with sound psychometric principles be used.

   • Outcome measures with sound psychometric principles are easier to administer than those without.

   • The psychometric principles guarantee that an outcome measure will detect even very small changes.

5. Which of the following statements about the value of the test-retest reliability coefficient is true?

   • A low test-retest reliability coefficient value should not be a barrier to using the measure to detect treatment-related change

   • test-retest reliability coefficient value between 0.50 and 0.75 is considered very good.

   • The value of the test-retest reliability coefficient is not important in assessing whether a measure is stable.

   • The test-retest reliability coefficient is an indicator of how well the outcome measure assesses discourse.

   • A test-retest reliability coefficient value of 0.90 suggests that the error associated with the outcome measure is small.

   Article Two (pp. 10-19)

6. AphasiaBank is a resource that:

   • Offers computer-based treatment programs and online support groups for PWAs and their families.

   • Requires a registration fee and proof of ASHA membership for access.

   • Includes a wide variety of resources and tools for licensed SLPs, educators, and researchers interested in communication in aphasia.

   • Is completely password protected to protect confidentiality.

   • Provides computer-based support groups for PWAs and their families throughout North America.

7. Main concept analysis (MCA) is a type of discourse analysis that:

   • Cannot be compared to any nonaphasic individual's norms because those data have not yet been collected.

   • Relies on scoring that must be done from a complete transcription of the language sample.

   • Can be used reliably to assess a PWA's ability to communicate the gist for specific discourse tasks.

   • Provides the same information as one would get from a formal aphasia battery such as the Western Aphasia Battery.

   • Can be used only for research purposes.

8. Correct information units (CIUs) can be computed to measure:

   • Syntactic complexity and semantic accuracy in connected speech.

   • Lexical diversity and fluency of connected speech.

   • Informativeness and efficiency of connected speech.

   • Functional communication and self-monitoring abilities in connected speech.

   • Receptive and expressive skills in connected speech.

9. The AphasiaBank Grand Rounds site does not include:

   • Questions to stimulate discussions about assessment and treatment.

   • Videosamples of individuals with different types of aphasia.

   • Test questions to evaluate the user's knowledge about aphasia.

   • Case history information about the PWAs featured.

   • Comparisons of language behaviors across aphasia types and discourse tasks.

10. Computer-based transcription and discourse analysis tools described here:

    • Require the purchase of special software packages.

    • Have limited use for individuals with aphasia and other neurogenic disorders of communication.

    • Can be used to efficiently and reliably assess PWA and monitor treatment effects.

    • Require special training in graduate courses, workshops, or conferences.

    • Cannot be used to compare an individual PWA's performance to that of a large reference database of other PWAs and individuals without aphasia.

    Article Three (pp. 20-31)

11. Which of the following does not describe discourse analysis?

    • Utterance structure has a great impact on results of macrolinguistic analysis.

    • Transcription process for discourse analysis may have negative impacts on reliability.

    • Training for analyzing discourse is required.

    • Standardized test batteries typically do not include discourselevel assessment.

    • Some outcome measures are sensitive to manners of organizing transcripts.

12. Which of the following represents core lexicon?

    • Only those things which include verbs and nouns.

    • Only those things which include function words.

    • Only those things which include content words.

    • Anything which can be associates with lexical access.

    • Anything which can be related to syntactic analysis.

13. The scores given by multiple clinicians through the core lexicon measure are consistent. What kind of validity or reliability does this imply?

    • Construct validity.

    • Face validity.

    • Internal consistency.

    • Inter-rater reliability.

    • Test-retest reliability.

14. Which of the following statements is incorrect regarding core lexicon measures?

    • Core verbs predict overall language performance of persons with aphasia.

    • Core lexicon measures can be used to examine qualitative changes in persons with aphasia following the treatment sessions.

    • Core lexicon measures can assist in investigating selective impairments of word classes in discourse.

    • Core lexicon production reflects linguistic processes across different levels of discourse production.

    • Core lexicon production reflects lexical diversity in persons with aphasia.

15. This article supports the idea that core lexicon measures demonstrate

    • Acceptable test-retest reliability.

    • Acceptable concurrent validity.

    • Acceptable internal consistency.

    • Acceptable content validity.

    • Acceptable face validity.

    Article Four (pp. 32-44)

16. A new focus of treatment outcomes measurement for clinicians and people with aphasia is _____.

    • Naming.

    • Syntax.

    • Discourse.

    • Phonology.

    • Auditory comprehension.

17. Which of the following is not a barrier to clinical utilization of discourse measurement?

    • Time.

    • Normative data based on small sample sizes.

    • Subjectivity of scoring.

    • People with aphasia do not find it meaningful.

    • Existing normative data dispersed throughout the literature.

18. Main concept analysis measures what aspect of discourse?

    • Informativeness.

    • Length.

    • Cohesion.

    • Coherence.

    • Typicality of word usage.

19. Core lexicon measures what aspect of discourse?

    • Informativeness.

    • Length.

    • Cohesion.

    • Coherence.

    • Typicality of word usage.

20. What measure(s) capture(s) communication effort of both speaker and listener and was/were sensitive to differences between PWAs and healthy controls, between controls and some subtypes of stroke-induced aphasia, and between persons with PPA and controls?

    • Main concept efficiency.

    • Lexical diversity.

    • CoreLex efficiency.

    • A and C.

    • All of the above.

    Article Five (pp. 45-60)

21. According to MacWhinney and colleagues' study using the Cinderella task, compared to healthy controls, persons with aphasia produced:

    • More abstract nouns and more light verbs.

    • More abstract nouns and fewer light verbs.

    • Fewer abstract nouns and more light verbs.

    • Fewer abstract nouns and fewer light verbs.

    • Only fewer light verbs.

22. According to Dalton and Richardson's study, which of the following is not a pattern of core lexicon production in aphasia?

    • For the Broken Window task, Wernicke's aphasia produced more core lexicon items than Broca's aphasia.

    • For the Broken Window task, Broca's aphasia produced fewer core lexicon items than conduction aphasia.

    • For the Cinderella task, Broca's aphasia produced fewer core lexicon items than anomic aphasia.

    • For the Cinderella task, Broca's aphasia produced fewer core lexicon items than Wernicke's aphasia.

    • For the Cinderella task, those who are not aphasic by WAB-R score (NABW) produced more core lexicon items than anomic aphasia.

23. Which of the following statements does not describe the core lexicon discourse measure?

    • Core lexicon checklists were designed to provide a clinicianfriendly manner of quantifying discourse production.

    • When scoring, synonyms of target core lexicon items are counted.

    • Core lexicon checklists were developed based on how cognitively healthy speakers perform in discourse tasks.

    • Different checklists were developed and investigated by discourse tasks.

    • None of the above.

24. Which of the following statements is consistent with Kim and colleagues' study?

    • Age was considered to create core lexicon checklists.

    • Word class was considered to create core lexicon checklists.

    • As more core verb items were produced, higher AQ scores were found in persons with aphasia.

    • Function word core lexicon checklists were found to be the most reliable among raters of all checklists.

    • All of the above.

25. Current research supports the idea that the core lexicon discourse measure would expect to capture:

    • Differences between aphasia and healthy controls.

    • Differences among subtypes of aphasia.

    • Differences between fluent aphasia and nonfluent aphasia.

    • A and B.

    • All of the above.

    Article Six (pp. 61-70)

26. Which PWA might benefit the most from conversational therapy?

    • Any patients.

    • Patients with severe aphasia.

    • Anomic patients.

    • Patients with moderate aphasia.

    • Agrammatic patients

27. Which modality can be used to communicate ideas in conversational treatment?

    • Verbal language.

    • Gestures.

    • Any modality.

    • Drawing.

    • Writing.

28. Which maxim of conversation is the most impaired in severe PWAs?

    • Quantity.

    • Quality.

    • Relation.

    • Manner.

    • Quantity and relation.

29. Do the clinician and the patient participate equally as senders and receivers of the messages?

    • Sometimes.

    • Any time.

    • Only the clinician participates as sender and receiver.

    • Only the patient participates as sender and receiver.

    • The clinician participates as sender and the patient as receiver.

30. Which tDCS protocol is best suited for PWAs?

    • Single session.

    • Multiple sessions.

    • Multiple sessions combined with language treatment.

    • Single session combined with language treatment.

    • None of the above.

    Article Seven (pp. 71-82)

31. Approximately how many people living in the United States have chronic severe aphasia?

    • 2.6 million.

    • 1.6 million.

    • 390,000 to 520,000.

    • 100,000.

    • None of the above.

32. Which of the following statements are true about the Aphasia Communication Outcome Measure?

    • It provides information about how the participant perceives their communication ability.

    • It is not standardized.

    • It measures naming ability.

    • (A) and (B).

    • (A) and (C).

33. Which of the following is most likely to occur in conversation treatment with persons with severe aphasia?

    • The clinician presents pictures for the client to name.

    • The clinician asks the client to describe a picture.

    • The client has a conversation and is encouraged to use multimodal communication.

    • The client has a conversation and is allowed to use only spoken language.

    • The clinician asks the client to repeat words.

34. Which of the following statements about individuals with severe aphasia are true?

    • They do not benefit from any speech-language therapy.

    • They benefit only from intensive naming treatment.

    • They may benefit from conversation treatment.

    • Many treatment approaches for this population focus on compensatory strategies.

    • (C) and (D).

35. Which of the following are possible goals for IWSA in conversation treatment?

    • Produce personally relevant main ideas using multimodal communication.

    • Increase the frequency of communication attempts.

    • Answer simple wh-questions given one repetition and visual cue.

    • (A) and (C).

    • All of the above.

    Article Eight (pp. 83-98)

36. The adaptations made to the NARNIA protocol for people with cognitive-communication impairment focused on:

    • Direct instruction.

    • Errorless learning.

    • Self-regulation.

    • Errorful learning.

    • Memory scaffolding.

37. Which discourse measure did not show consistent improvement following therapy?

    • Macrostructure.

    • TotWords.

    • TotCIUs.

    • %CIUs.

    • CIUs/min.

38. Which genre is not assessed in the CUDP?

    • Procedural.

    • Recount.

    • Narrative.

    • Exposition.

    • Picture description.

39. Cognitive communication difficulties are sequela of:

    • TBI.

    • Stroke.

    • Neurosurgery.

    • Dementia.

    • All of the above.

40. Issues that arose when working with this population did not include:

    • Memory difficulties.

    • Motivation.

    • Aggressive behavior.

    • Mood.

    • Scheduling of appointments.

    Article Nine (pp. 99-124)

41. Which of the following could be considered a barrier to implementing script training into therapy?

    • Script training for aphasia has not been studied in various etiologies, types, or severities.

    • Creating scripts is too difficult and time-consuming for busy clinicians.

    • There is a lack of evidence to support the effects of script training for reimbursement purposes.

    • All of the above.

    • None of the above.

42. What are some salient findings of speech shadowing?

    • Speech is processed linguistically first and then phonetically.

    • Speech is processed linguistically and phonetically at the same time.

    • Speech cannot be processed by the PWSA linguistically at all levels.

    • Speech cannot be processed linguistically and phonetically at the same time.

    • Speech will likely not be processed automatically.

43. Some of the principles of plasticity for neurorehabilitation described by Kleim and Jones (2008) that were discussed in the context of script training include:

    • Use it or lose it.

    • Specificity.

    • Intensity matters.

    • A and C.

    • All of the above.

44. How can clinicians increase the difficulty of scripts used in script training?

    • Increase linguistic complexity.

    • Increase the script length (e.g., number of sentences).

    • Increase speaking rate.

    • All of the above.

    • None of the above.

45. What aspects of treatment have not been studied using AphasiaScripts?

    • Dosage and treatment schedules.

    • Importance of personally relevant content.

    • Enhancement of effects with brain stimulation.

    • Cueing conditions.

    • Script difficulty/complexity.