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Coherence violations and propositional usage in the narratives of fluent aphasics
1Aphasia Research Center, Boston University School of Medicine, USA.
Brain and Language
|November 1, 1995
Summary
Mildly impaired aphasic patients exhibit distinct narrative coherence violations. These differences suggest adaptive strategies, with Wernicke
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Linguistics
- Psychology
Background:
- Aphasic patients are generally assumed to produce coherent narratives despite surface structure deficits.
- This study investigates coherence violations in aphasic individuals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze three types of coherence violations in the narratives of mildly impaired conduction, anomic, and Wernicke's aphasics.
- To determine if these violations reflect adaptive strategies or underlying deficits.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of narrative coherence.
- Categorization of coherence violations into information gaps, repetitions of propositions, and irrelevant propositions.
- Comparison of violation patterns across three aphasic groups: conduction, anomic, and Wernicke's.
Main Results:
- The three aphasic groups exhibited qualitatively different patterns of coherence violations.
- Conduction and anomic aphasics showed patterns suggesting compensation for surface structure deficits.
- Wernicke's aphasics displayed patterns indicative of an underlying coherence deficit.
Conclusions:
- Coherence violations in aphasia are not uniform.
- Patterns of violations may reflect compensatory strategies for specific underlying impairments.
- Wernicke's aphasia may involve a primary deficit in coherence processing, distinct from surface structure issues.
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