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.

Patient B's fluent but meaningless speech and impaired comprehension are most consistent with

  • A

    Broca's aphasia from frontal lobe damage

  • B

    Global aphasia from bilateral lesions

  • C

    Wernicke's aphasia from temporal lobe damage

    check_circle
  • D

    Conduction aphasia from arcuate fasciculus damage

Explanation

Wernicke's aphasia features fluent but semantically empty speech and impaired comprehension, arising from damage to the left posterior superior temporal gyrus.

Want 10 more like this — adaptive to your weak spots?

Related questions