Interactive Behaviors of Aphasic Persons

Abstract

The paradigm of aphasic symptoms is on the one hand determined by the rules of the breakdown of a language system, while on the other hand – by communication strategies adopted by patients, whereby communication in aphasia cases is the result of two processes: disintegration and compensation. Compensatory strategies determine the interactive capabilities of aphasic patients and are the basis for building up procedures of logopedic management. The specificity of interaction participated in by aphasic persons involves special use of three elements: 1) verbalized (text,
pathological text) or non-verbal message; 2) utterances about the message (metatext in the functions of (a) message organization and (b) the semiotic status of the features used); 3) the sender’s and receiver’s knowledge resulting from textual and nontextual determinants (textual, linguistic and situational context). The interactive approach in studies on aphasia allows one to present the three interactive categories: text, metatext, and context in dynamic and spatial terms. The investigation of the structure of interaction consists in discovering the rules of transformation of text, metatext and
context which decide the dynamics and efficacy of interaction. The analysis of empirical material results in the construction of a model of interactive behaviors in aphasic persons and procedures for diagnosis and treatment of aphasic disorders.