Non-aphasics telling stories on the Cookie Theft picture of the Boston diagnostic aphasia examination

Abstract

This work is part of a larger project on aphasia rehabilitation conducted at the Universidad de Los Andes, Venezuela, and reports on the response of healthy individuals to standardized tests commonly employed in the assessment of aphasia. In particular, we examine the adequacy of the Cookie Theft picture of the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (BDAE: Goodglass and Kaplan, 1972) as a stimulus to elicit narratives. In the study, the Cookie Theft picture was presented to 20 healthy persons, 10 with college-level education (16 years or more: G1), and 10 with basic educational level (six years or less G2), and narratives based on the picture were solicited. Analysis of the texts produced shows: a) G1 narratives are significantly longer than G2 narratives. b) Texts produced by G1 fully qualify as narratives, whereas 40% of texts produced by G2 barely meet the requirements. c) G1 recountings approach the main “theme” of the picture (sink overflowing), whereas G2 concentrates on ancillary subjects (cookies, children, room decoration, etc). d) The presence of evaluation and orientation clauses is low in both groups and the absence of coda is notorious. Results on (a), (b) and (c) suggest that the test situation and/or the visual stimulus employed might be acting in disfavor of the low educational group. On the other hand, (d) could be indicative of the stimulus inadequacy to elicit narratives even in healthy populations. The work suggests the necessity to create/apply new or additional assessment tools that counterbalance the social, cultural or personal bias introduced by the application of standard tests.