Quantitative and Qualitative Aspects of Factors and Forms of Aphasia: Clinical Data

Abstract

There is no single valid method covering all the clinical and research needs of aphasia assessment. The classic controversies about the qualitative and psychometric approaches to this condition should be finally overcome. In this article, firstly, the metric characteristics of the test variables employed in the study of aphasia are investigated. Second, a psychometric/categorical method is proposed to resolve the limitations of these metrics. Finally, the psychometric/categorical method is illustrated through the particular aspects of three clinical cases. The contributions of the method, and the problems of the factors and forms of aphasia, are discussed.