Channel-consistency following unilateral stroke: an examination of patientcommunications across verbal and nonverbal domains

One way in which the dyadic communicative process can go awry is for one or both parties to send channel-inconsistent communications - communications in which the verbal and nonverbal elements are not matched in emotional val ence (e.g., uttering positive words with a frown). We hypothesized that uni lateral stroke patients would be likely to send such messages. Given the ve rbal impairments typically associated with left hemisphere damage (LHD), e. g., agrammatism, and the nonverbal impairments typically associated with ri ght hemisphere damage (RHD), we expected LHD and RHD patients to send messa ges in which the impaired channel was perceived as inconsistent with the un impaired channel. Ten LHD, 11 RHD and six normal control patients were vide otaped while engaging in social interaction. Observers made judgments about the valence of the patients' (1) words (based on transcripts of the intera ctions), and (2) facial expressions (based on soundless videos of the inter actions). Analysis of word-face difference scores revealed a significant li near trend, with messages of LHD patients judged more positive in facial ex pression than in verbal content, messages of RHD patients judged more posit ive in verbal content than in facial expression, and messages of control pa tients judged channel-consistent (similar in valence across facial and verb al channels). (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.