Basic and subordinate level naming by agrammatic and fluent aphasic patients.

Agrammatic Broca's and fluent (Wernicke's and anomic) aphasics were asked to name objects depicted in outline drawings as a means of testing their ability to identify and to name objects at the basic (e.g., "chair") and subordinate (e.g., "beach chair") levels. Patients from both groups had difficulty producing subordinate names, but successfully conveyed subordinate level identifications using a variety of compensatory strategies. This report supports a separation of the naming process from the conceptual operations and structures needed to identify objects. In addition, the two aphasic groups used different strategies to circumvent their naming difficulties. Fluent patients sometimes conveyed subordinate level identifications without any mention of a basic name. Agrammatic patients in particular avoided use of pre-posed modifiers in their compensatory responses. The composition of most subordinate terms (modifier plus basic name) is discussed in relation to the normal naming process and how it is disrupted in aphasia.