The Maze Task as a Sentence Formulation Treatment for Aphasia: A Feasibility Study

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the feasibility and acceptability of the maze task, a tool commonly used to investigate the time course of sentence processing, as a treatment for sentence formulation in people with aphasia. Five participants with chronic aphasia completed seven sessions of the computerized maze task. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was used to examine whether participants improved at the task with repeated practice. In each session, participants made three independent attempts per sentence, followed by an attempt with verbal and visual cues provided by a clinician. Task accuracy and response time data were collected to measure improvement. At the end of each session, the participants completed a subjective experience questionnaire to examine the acceptability of performing the task. The results indicated that all participants demonstrated improvement in both accuracy and response time. These improvements were statistically significant, and the large effect sizes indicated potential therapeutic significance. The participants rated the task with high acceptability scores across all seven sessions. The use of the maze task to improve sentence formulation appeared to be feasible and acceptable. Future research is needed to examine the characteristics of people with aphasia who would benefit from this task and the additional effects of using it.