Abstract
We evaluated the influence of aphasia on performance intelligence tests. The subjects were 22 patients with fluent aphasia not accompanied by motor disturbance such as paralysis or ataxia (19 with Wernicke's aphasia, 2 with conduction aphasia, and 1 with amnesic aphasia) . As intelligence tests, the Standard Language Test of Aphasia (SLTA) , performance test of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) , and Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices (RCPM) were used. The WAIS-R performance test could be classified into subtests : those readily affected and those negligibly affected by aphasia. The subtests that tended to be affected by aphasia were “Picture Arrangement” and “Digit Symbol.” The decrease in scores on the “Picture Arrangement” test appeared to be associated with language expression ability at the speaking level, while that in the scores on the “Digit Symbol” test was thought to be associated with impaired phoneme processing of written language. In the RCPM, items that require inference/thinking ability tended to be affected by speech function and also by the degree of aphasia. Consideration should be given to these subtests and items when the results of WAIS-R and RCPM performance tests are interpreted.
