Qualitative aspects of pantomime recognition defect in aphasia

This study investigated the performance pattern of aphasic patients on a pantomime recognition test in which one of the four response alternatives was an object semantically related to the correct choice. Aphasics with defective pantomime recognition made 71% of their total errors on the semantic foils, and for the majority of such patients, semantic errors represented 80 to 100% of total errors. Only aphasics with objective evidence of confusion failed to make highly frequent semantic errors. The findings suggest that most aphasics who fail pantomime recognition are impaired because of semantically vague understanding of the pantomimes' intended meaning rather than complete lack of understanding of the pantomime.