| Abstract: | Fluent and non-fluent aphasics, non-aphasic brain-damaged patients, schizophrenics, and normal controls were tested in a non-verbal visual retention task (object-drawings, snowflakes). All groups of neurological and psychiatric patients scored lower than normal controls under a rehearsal condition. Differences levelled off when a distractor task was interpolated. While fluent aphasics were impaired with both the object-drawings and the snowflakes, non-fluent aphasics were impaired only with the latter. Results are discussed with respect to the verbal-encoding hypothesis and other theories of aphasia. |
