The Impact of Word Regularity on the Reading of Normal and Aphasic Gilak-Persian Adults

Background: Various factors influence the natural processing of words. The present study sought to investigate the effect of the regularity variable on the reading of words. Objectives: The participants in the study were 50 normal and 5 aphasic people (of Broca, transcortical motor and conduction aphasia types) who were selected through convenience sampling method. Materials & Methods: It was a quantitative study with quasi-experimental design. In this research, reading aloud subtest of the test 53 of the Psycholinguistic Assessment of Language Processing in Aphasia (PALPA) battery of tests was nativized and used. First, the mean and standard deviation was computed for the test scores of the two groups of participants (i.e. normal and aphasics). Regarding the aphasics’ data, after verifying their normality of distribution by Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test, paired samples t-test was used to compare the mean scores on the results of the test on regular and exception words. Results: Since normal subjects scored a perfect grade (SD=0), it was found that the regularity variable had no effect on the reading process in these individuals. Based on the results of paired samples t-test in the aphasic subjects (P=0.25), it was found that the regularity variable in these individuals has no effect on their reading process, too. Conclusion: The evidence from the present study shows that the word regularity has no impact on the reading of words in both normal and aphasic adults. The theoretical and clinical implications of the findings would be discussed.