A central processor for hierarchically-structured material: Evidence from broca's aphasia

Abstract Adults with localized cerebral insult were asked to construct non-linguistic, hierarchical tree structures which were analogues of syntactic trees thought to underlie sentences. It was found that only the Broca's aphasics had not remembered that the visuo-spatial material was organized heirarchically, although they had recalled the trees' symmetrical properties. Further, the Broca's aphasics tended to employ a chain-like constructional strategy in the creation of their trees. These findings suggest that the Broca's aphasics' constructions of non-linguistic, hierarchically-structured material may mirror their deficits in appreciating the hierarchical properties of sentential structures.

[1]  Eleanor M. Saffran,et al.  Immediate memory for word lists and sentences in a patient with deficient auditory short-term memory , 1975, Brain and Language.

[2]  Noam Chomsky.  Language and Responsibility , 1979 .

[3]  E K Warrington,et al.  Drawing disability in relation to laterality of cerebral lesion. , 1966, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[4]  E. Zurif,et al.  Grammatical judgments of agrammatic aphasics. , 1972, Neuropsychologia.

[5]  R. Arena,et al.  Constructional apraxia and Visuoperceptive Disabilities in Relation to Laterality of Cerebral Lesions , 1978, Cortex.

[6]  O. L. Zangwill,et al.  VISUAL-CONSTRUCTIVE DISABILITIES ASSOCIATED WITH LESIONS OF THE LEFT CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE , 1960 .

[7]  P. Greenfield,et al.  The search for structural principles in children's manipulative play: a parallel with linguistic development. , 1975, Child development.

[8]  J. Bruner,et al.  Studies In Cognitive Growth , 1966 .

[9]  Sheila E. Blumstein,et al.  Language and the Brain. , 1978 .

[10]  R. Lesser.  Verbal and non-verbal memory components in the Token Test , 1976, Neuropsychologia.

[11]  O. L. Zangwill,et al.  DISORDERS OF VISUAL SPACE PERCEPTION ASSOCIATED WITH LESIONS OF THE RIGHT CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE , 1944 .

[12]  H. Kolk,et al.  Judgement of sentence structure in Broca's aphasia , 1978, Neuropsychologia.

[13]  Kurt Goldstein,et al.  Abstract and concrete behavior an experimental study with special tests. , 1941 .

[14]  M. Piercy,et al.  Constructional apraxia associated with unilateral cerebral lesions-left and right sided cases compared. , 1960, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[15]  P. Greenfield,et al.  Building a Tree Structure: The Development of Hierarchical Complexity and Interrupted Strategies in Children's Construction Activity. , 1977 .

[16]  T. V. Stockert,et al.  Some Relations of Grammar and Lexicon in Aphasia , 1976, Cortex.

[17]  Harold Goodglass,et al.  The retrieval of syntax in Broca's aphasia , 1975, Brain and Language.

[18]  Heinz Werner,et al.  Comparative Psychology of Mental Development , 1942 .

[19]  Patricia M. Greenfield,et al.  The structure of communication in early language development , 1979 .

[20]  Jerome S. Bruner,et al.  On Voluntary Action and its Hierarchical Structure , 1968 .

[21]  R. Strub,et al.  Constructional Apraxia in Patients With Discrete Missile Wounds of the Brain , 1976, Cortex.

[22]  H. Goodglass,et al.  The absence of covert verbal mediation in aphasia. , 1974, Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior.

[23]  S. Kelter,et al.  Aphasic Disorders in Matching Tasks Involving Conceptual Analysis and Covert Naming , 1976, Cortex.

[24]  A. Caramazza,et al.  Dissociation of algorithmic and heuristic processes in language comprehension: Evidence from aphasia , 1976, Brain and Language.

[25]  D. Benson,et al.  Disturbances in constructional ability. , 1970, Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior.