Perseverative behaviour in fluent and non-fluent aphasic adults

Perseveration by type (recurrent, continuous, or stuck-in-set) was examined for 30 stroke patients, 20 of whom exhibited fluent aphasia, and 10 with non-fluent aphasia. Comparisons were made between the two aphasic subject groups on two verbal and two non-verbal tasks. Twenty-eight of the patients (93%) produced at least one instance of perseveration. The most commonly occurring type was recurrent perseveration. Instances of continuous perseveration also were common and were produced by 18 patients. Stuck-in-set perseveration was uncommon with only two patients exhibiting this form of perseveration. No differences were observed in the frequency of perseveration across the four tasks between fluent and non-fluent aphasic patients. Perseveration was significantly correlated with aphasia severity, but not with time post-onset.