In a language evaluation for a patient with fluent speech, which symptom would be indicative of conduction aphasia?

Conduction aphasia is characterized primarily by difficulties in phonemic processing and production, despite relatively preserved fluency and comprehension. Patients with this type of aphasia often exhibit frequent phonemic errors, meaning they may substitute sounds or produce incorrect sounds when trying to articulate words. This feature highlights the specific disconnect between their ability to formulate coherent thoughts and the execution of those thoughts into spoken language.

Having good comprehension is typical for patients with conduction aphasia, as they can understand spoken language quite well, which differentiates it from other types of aphasia like Wernicke's aphasia. In addition, while individuals with conduction aphasia may struggle with repetition, they do not typically exhibit excessive pauses in speech, which can suggest other language disorders. Thus, frequent phonemic errors serve as a hallmark sign, leading to the identification of conduction aphasia in a fluent speaker.