| Abstract: | Recently, some authors have claimed that a double dissociation between an "anomia for proper names" and a "selective sparing of proper names" has been demonstrated in the cognitive neuropsychology literature (e.g. Cohen & Burke, 1993; Hittmair-Delazer, Denes, Semenza,& Mantovan,1994; Semenza& Zettin, 1989). The aim of the present paper is to evaluate whether this claim is really tenable or not. We point out the need to distinguish carefully between the production and comprehension of language when looking forsuch a dissociation. We argue that a double dissociation between the processing of proper names and common names has not been demonstrated for production. The evidence for a double dissociation between comprehension of proper names and common names is much stronger, but even this claim is limited. |
