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On Making a Sandwich: Procedural Discourse in Adults with Right-Hemisphere Damage

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Further Advances in Pragmatics and Philosophy: Part 2 Theories and Applications

Part of the book series: Perspectives in Pragmatics, Philosophy & Psychology ((PEPRPHPS,volume 20))

Abstract

In a clinical language evaluation, procedural discourse is often afforded less emphasis than either narrative or expository discourse. Yet, the generation of procedural discourse is a highly complex task that demands the integration of a range of cognitive-linguistic skills. The aim of this paper will be to investigate those skills with a view to demonstrating the potential diagnostic significance of procedural discourse in a clinical language evaluation. The context for these remarks will be the study of seven adults with right-hemisphere damage who were studied at two clinical facilities in the United States. These adults were recorded as they attempted to explain to an examiner how they would make a peanut butter and jelly (jam) sandwich. An analysis of the discourse produced by these adults reveals a complex and highly variable profile of skills and deficits. It will be argued that this profile is a consequence of cognitive and linguistic heterogeneity in the RHD population, with language impairment manifesting itself in different ways across a range of clients.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Myers presented her paper in May 1979 at the Clinical Aphasiology Conference (CAC) held in Phoenix, Arizona. It is a sign of the significance of this paper that it was published again in 2005 as a CAC classic in the journal Aphasiology. The reader is referred to Myers (2005).

  2. 2.

    Confabulations are false or erroneous memories that occur involuntarily in individuals with a neurological amnesia. As well as completely or largely erroneous memories, the patient may report real memories which are jumbled up and retrieved out of context. Confabulated memories are often autobiographical. In general, the patient is unaware of his or her condition.

  3. 3.

    In hemispatial neglect, patients fail to be aware of or acknowledge items on their contralesional side (the left side in patients with RHD). They may be unaware of large objects and people in extrapersonal space and even their own body parts. Contralesional limbs may not be used even when they have little or no weakness (known as motor neglect). Patients with neglect may be unaware that they have these problems (so-called anosognosia) (Parton et al. 2004).

  4. 4.

    Ecological validity describes the extent to which tasks used in a language evaluation resemble everyday communication. In general, formal language assessments such as commercially available tests have poorer ecological validity than informal language assessments such as a recording of spontaneous conversation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of English, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Louise Cummings

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  1. Louise Cummings
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Correspondence to Louise Cummings .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cognitive Science, University of Messina, Barcellona, Italy

    Alessandro Capone

  2. Department SUM, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Marco Carapezza

  3. University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Franco Lo Piparo

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Cummings, L. (2019). On Making a Sandwich: Procedural Discourse in Adults with Right-Hemisphere Damage. In: Capone, A., Carapezza, M., Lo Piparo, F. (eds) Further Advances in Pragmatics and Philosophy: Part 2 Theories and Applications. Perspectives in Pragmatics, Philosophy & Psychology, vol 20. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00973-1_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00973-1_19

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