Word retrieval and its disorders

The mechanisms involved in retrieving words and producing them are a major focus of current research activity in psycholinguistics. The breakdown of t hese processes in patients with brain damage is of interest as well, both f or the purpose of developing new approaches to the remediation of these def icits, and for the relevance of these breakdown patterns to models of word production. Lyndsey Nickel's (1997) book provides a concise review of theor etical approaches to word retrieval, and examines the various ways in which this process breaks down in aphasia. To the extent possible, Nickels attem pts to account for these deficits in terms of one or more of these models. In addition to providing a summary of the material covered in the book, thi s review will consider a number of important papers on word production that have appeared since the book was written. These contributions bear on cont roversial issues discussed by Nickels; some raise new points of contention, while others suggest alternative approaches to modelling aspects of word p roduction.