- Verbal fluency test
Verbal fluency tests are a kind of psychological tests in which participants have to say as many words as possible from a category in a given time (usually 60 seconds). This category can be semantic, such as fruits, or phonetic, such as words that begin with letter p.cite book
author=Lezak, Muriel Deutsch
title=Neuropsychological assessment
publisher=Oxford University Press
location=Oxford [Oxfordshire]
year=1995
isbn=0-19-509031-4] Regarding thebrain areas used in this task investigations have found an implication of both frontal and temporal areas, being the contribution of the first more important in the phonetic variant and the second with the semantic cue.cite journal
author=Baldo JV, Schwartz S, Wilkins D, Dronkers NF
title=Role of frontal versus temporal cortex in verbal fluency as revealed by voxel-based lesion symptom mapping
journal=J Int Neuropsychol Soc
volume=12
issue=6
pages=896–900
year=2006
month=November
pmid=17064451
doi=10.1017/S1355617706061078
url=http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S1355617706061078] Accordingly different neurological pathologies affecting these areas produce impairments in the task.cite journal
author = Ardila, A.
coauthors = Ostrosky-solís, F.; Bernal, B.
year = 2006
title = Cognitive testing toward the future: The example of Semantic Verbal Fluency (ANIMALS)
journal = International Journal of Psychology
volume = 41
issue = 5
pages = 324-332
url = http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/pijp/2006/00000041/00000005/art00002
accessdate = 2008-05-05] For this reason they are commonly included inclinical neuropsychology batteries,cite book
author=Lezak, Muriel Deutsch
title=Neuropsychological assessment
publisher=Oxford University Press
location=Oxford [Oxfordshire]
year=1995
isbn=0-19-509031-4] but they have also been very used inneuroscience investigation.Although the most common performance measure is the total number of words other analysis such as number of repetitions, number and length of clusters of words from the same semantic or phonetic subcategory or number of switches to other categories can be carried out.cite journal
author=Troyer AK, Moscovitch M, Winocur G
title=Clustering and switching as two components of verbal fluency: evidence from younger and older healthy adults
journal=Neuropsychology
volume=11
issue=1
pages=138–46
year=1997
month=January
pmid=9055277
doi=
url=http://content.apa.org/journals/neu/11/1/138] cite journal
author=Troyer AK, Moscovitch M, Winocur G, Leach L, Freedman M
title=Clustering and switching on verbal fluency tests in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease
journal=J Int Neuropsychol Soc
volume=4
issue=2
pages=137–43
year=1998
month=March
pmid=9529823
doi=
url=]The COWAT (Controlled oral word association test) is the most employed phonetic variant. cite journal
author=Loonstra AS, Tarlow AR, Sellers AH
title=COWAT metanorms across age, education, and gender
journal=Appl Neuropsychol
volume=8
issue=3
pages=161–6
year=2001
pmid=11686651
doi=
url=] cite journal
author = Ardila, A.
coauthors = Ostrosky-solís, F.; Bernal, B.
year = 2006
title = Cognitive testing toward the future: The example of Semantic Verbal Fluency (ANIMALS)
journal = International Journal of Psychology
volume = 41
issue = 5
pages = 324-332
url = http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/pijp/2006/00000041/00000005/art00002
accessdate = 2008-05-05]References
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