Communication and Language Development

AP Psychology· difficulty 3/5

In a study, researchers tested two stroke patients. Patient A produced halting, telegraphic speech ("walk... dog... yesterday") but understood spoken instructions normally. Patient B spoke fluently in long sentences but produced nonsense words and had great difficulty understanding speech. Imaging localized Patient A's lesion to the left frontal lobe and Patient B's to the left temporal lobe.

Broca Wernicke Left Hemisphere (lateral view) Anterior Posterior

Patient A's symptoms are most consistent with damage to

  • A

    Wernicke's area, producing fluent aphasia

  • B

    The motor cortex, producing dysarthria only

  • C

    Broca's area, producing nonfluent aphasia with preserved comprehension

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  • D

    The angular gyrus, producing alexia

Explanation

Broca's aphasia is characterized by halting, effortful speech and relatively spared comprehension, consistent with left frontal lobe damage.

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