O efeito da frequência de palavras e da sua estrutura morfológica na produção de erros afásicos

The literature presented on the influence of the word frequency has been similar among different authors. The results of these studies have shown that high frequency words often seem to be easier to access than low frequency ones (Bormann, Kulke & Blanken, 2007; Kittredge, Dell, Verkuilen & Scwartz, 2008; Leal, 2003; Morrisset & Gierut, 2002; among others). Regarding the influence of morphological structure of words in verbal production there are not many data that can clarify us. To study these two variables, we used two tests: (i) naming test of real objects – frequently high frequent simple words, low frequent simple words and low frequent complex words; and (ii) a word repetition test adapted from the Aachen Aphasia Test (Portuguese version) (Lauterbach, Pavão -Martins & Ferreira, 2003). Thirty -nine participants between 47–87 years of age were evaluated, of which ten were illiterate and 12 literate. These were divided into four sub -groups. The production of low frequent words and the production of complex words induced a higher production paraphasias. These results come to clarify the influence of linguistic features in lexical accessing.