[Verbal comprehension in aphasic and in normal subjects with a shortened version of the token test (author's transl)]

A 36-item version of the token test is described together with its administration and scoring instructions. 215 normal subjects, 130 right brain-damaged patients, 50 non aphasic left brain-damaged patients and 106 aphasic patients were given the test. Years of schooling were found to affect significantly the performance of normal subjects; normal data were therefore examined with reference to individual educational background. Cutting scores differentiating normal from pathological performance were determined substracting 2 standard deviations from the means of normals subjects subdivided into four educational groups. Below these scores fell 4.2% of normal subjects, 14% of right brain-damaged patients, 18% of non-aphasic left brain-damaged patients and 90.48% of aphasic patients. Aphasic patients were classified as suffering from Global, Wernicke or Broca aphasia on the grounds of their performance on a Standard Aphasia Battery and the Token test scores of these three groups were compared. A score of 14 points was found to differentiate Broca from Global aphasics and severe from moderate and mild Wernicke aphasics. Broca aphasics were more impaired than Wernicke aphasics on the Token test. When compared to the Sentence Comprehension Test of the Standard Aphasia Battery, the Token test was found to be far more sensitive to detect impairment in aphasic subjects.