Comprehension of wh questions in aphasia

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences between aphasic and normal subjects in comprehension of the following wh questions: who, what, when, and where. The subjects included ten aphasics, each with a z-score between -l and O, inclusive on the auditory comprehension subtest of the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination, two months elapsed since the brain trauma, no premorbid communication impairment, and hearing sensitivity and vision adequate for the task as measured by five of eight correct picture identifications on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. The ten normal subjects had no history of brain damage and hearing and vision were adequate for task performance.

The subjects were asked forty wh questions which were randomly ordered prior to the administration of the task. The wh question was asked removed from context. For example, an experimental task consisted of asking, "Who?°. The subjects were required to select the most appropriate response given a picture card which contained a choice of four line drawings. Each picture card contained a picture of each of the four categories of wh question.

From the results of this study the following conclusions can be made:

1. Aphasic subjects differ significantly from normal subjects in their ability to answer wh questions given a picture identification task.

2. Aphasic subjects respond more correctly to the question "who," followed by "when," "where," and "what." 3. There are no significant differences among normal subjects' responses to the four wh questions.

4. Further research is indicated to provide more information about aphasic patients' comprehension of wh questions.