Story structure and retelling of narratives by aphasic and non-brain-damaged adults

Aphasic and non-brain-damaged subjects listened to and retold two narrative stories three times in succession. Both aphasic and non-brain-damaged subjects were affected by story structure--they retold a greater proportion of information units that were central to the story structure than information units that were peripheral to the story structure. Both aphasic and non-brain-damaged subjects increased the amount of information retold across three retellings, although only the increases from Retelling 1 to Retelling 2 were statistically significant. Non-brain-damaged subjects consistently retold slightly more information units than aphasic subjects, but the differences were not statistically significant. In all three retellings, both groups of subjects retold information in the same order that it occurred in the stories.