Intelligence and aphasia: Performance of aphasics on Raven's coloured progressive matrices (RCPM)

The usual verbal tests of intelligence are inappropriate in aphasia. Nonverbal intelligence was measured by Raven's test (RCPM) in 111 aphasics and 52 controls, whose language function was scored by the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB). The patients were classified according to taxonomic criteria, based on the WAB scores. The results indicate that Global, Wernicke's, and Transcortical Sensory aphasics perform poorly on the RCPM. Common to all these is poor comprehension. Broca's Transcortical Motor, Conduction, and Anomic aphasics do as well as nonaphasic controls with diffuse brain damage or nondominant hemisphere lesions. The RCPM performance does not seem to be related directly to the severity of aphasia. In addition to comprehension, drawing scores appeared to correlate best with RCPM scores. The data suggest that “nonverbal” intelligence is also imparied in aphasics to a variable extent, but 42% of aphasics performed as well as the controls without brain damage on RCPM.