Sixteen aphasic patients were given three pairs of tasks that compared the
production of the same items in either propositional or nonpropositional co
ntexts. A nonpropositional number production task involved counting from 1
to 10 while the propositional version of that task involved naming the Arab
ic numbers 1 to 10 in nonconsecutive order. A nonpropositional picture-nami
ng task involved naming pictures with the aid of familiar phrase cues (e.g.
, Don't beat around the BUSH) while in the propositional version the cuts w
ere novel phrases (e.g., Don't dig behind the BUSH). Finally a nonpropositi
onal phrase repetition task involved repeating well-known phrases while the
propositional version involved repeating novel phrases. The group as a who
le showed strong nonpropositional advantages for number production and pict
ure naming with a somewhat weaker advantage for phrase repetition. Only 5 o
f the individual patients showed nonpropositional advantages on all three p
airs of tasks: the remaining 11 patients showed a significant nonpropositio
nal advantage on one or two of the pairs of tasks, but not on all three. Al
l of the patients showed a nonpropositional advantage on at least one pair
of tasks, and there were no examples of better performance on the propositi
onal than on the nonpropositional version of any task. Contrasting patterns
of performance seen in different patients was related to their performance
on a battery of cognitive and linguistic tasks that was given to each pati
ent. (C) 1999 Academic Press.