What do verbal fluency tasks measure? Predictors of verbal fluency performance in older adults

Abstract

This study examined the contributions of verbal ability and executive control to verbal fluency performance in older adults (n = 82). Verbal fluency was assessed in letter and category fluency tasks, and performance on these tasks was related to indicators of vocabulary size, lexical access speed, updating, and inhibition ability. In regression analyses the number of words produced in both fluency tasks was predicted by updating ability, and the speed of the first response was predicted by vocabulary size and, for category fluency only, lexical access speed. These results highlight the hybrid character of both fluency tasks, which may limit their usefulness for research and clinical purposes.

Different Context but Similar Cognitive Structures: Older Adults in Rural Bangladesh

“…The focus of the present study was on five cognitive variables. Four of them, recall, recognition, verbal fluency and semantic knowledge are often regarded as long-term declarative memory (Nyberg et al, 2003), Verbal fluency may, however, also be considered as an aspect of executive control (Shao, Janse, Visser, & Meyer, 2014). The fifth studied cognitive ability, processing speed, is a measure of cognitive processing efficiency.…”

Patrones de correlación de fluencias semánticas y fonológicas en niños en edad escolar

“…Esta tarea permite diagnosticar diversas patologías del desarrollo como neurodegenerativas (Alegret et al, 2018;Andreou & Trott, 2013;Shao, Janse, Visser, & Meyer, 2014;Zhao, Guo, & Hong, 2013). Existen dos tipos de tareas a través de las que se evalúa la fluidez verbal: fluidez fonológica (FVF) y fluidez semántica (FVS).…”

“…Se considera que la realización de cada una de estas tareas está relacionada con procesos cognitivos diferentes, aunque no existe consenso en la literatura sobre cuáles intervienen específicamente en cada una. En general, se propone que en las tareas de fluencia o fluidez verbal participan los procesos de memoria de trabajo, atención sostenida, monitoreo e inhibición (componente ejecutivo), memoria semántica, estrategias de búsqueda y activación de ítems léxicos (Gaillard et al, 2000;García Coni & Vivas, 2014;Marino & Alderete, 2008;Marino & Alderete, 2010;Shao, et al, 2014). Diversas investigaciones han propuesto que tanto factores biológicos como socioculturales tienen incidencia en el desempeño en dichas tareas (Jacobsen et al, 2016;Kochhann et al, 2017;Van der Elst, Hurks, Wassenberg, Meijs, & Jolles, 2011).…”

Evidências de validade dos escores estratégicos na tarefa de fluência verbal infantil

“…Há evidências de que a FVS e a FVF apresentam natureza multifatorial, sendo o desempenho nas tarefas determinado por processos executivos (organização e flexibilidade, mensurado pelos escores número de agrupamentos e número de transições, respectivamente) e de vocabulário (mensurado pelo escore tamanho médio de agrupamento) (Ruff, Light, & Parker, 1997;Shao, Janse, Visser, & Meyer, 2014). Esses resultados são oriundos de estudos com adultos saudáveis (Troyer, 2000) e portadores de lesões nos lobos frontal e temporal (Troyer, Moscovitch, Winocur, Alexander, & Stuss, 1998) do cérebro.…”

“…Foi utilizado como referência o modelo multifatorial de busca estratégica que deu origem a esses escores (Chertkow & Bub, 1990). O referido modelo define o desempenho na tarefa com base em três processos cognitivos básicos: organização, flexibilidade e extensão do vocabulário (Ruff et al 1997;Shao et al, 2014). Para tanto, o procedimento adotado analisou evidências de validade fundamentadas na estrutura interna do instrumento (APA, AERA, & NCME, 1999; Thompson & Daniel, 1996).…”