Methodological Criteria for Scoring Clustering and Switching in Verbal Fluency Tasks

Becker, Natália; Salles, Jerusa Fumagalli de

doi:10.1590/1413-82712016210301

Cited by 12 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 45 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We have also found effects of our treatment in other cognitive systems, and that was independent of BDNF levels. The COWAT is a measure of verbal fluency and covers a wide range of cognitive functions, including verbal ability and executive control 37 . Some authors reviewed cognitive processes evaluated with verbal fluency tasks.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive effects of transcranial direct current stimulation combined with working memory training in fibromyalgia: a randomized clinical trial

Santos

Zortéa

Alves

et al. 2018

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cognitive dysfunction in fibromyalgia has been reported, especially memory. Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has been effective in enhancing this function. We tested the effects of eight sessions of tDCS and cognitive training on immediate and delayed memory, verbal fluency and working memory and its association with brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels. Forty females with fibromyalgia were randomized to receive eight sessions of active or sham tDCS. Anodal stimulation (2 mA) was applied over the DLPFC and online combined with a working memory training (WMT) for 20 minutes. Pre and post-treatment neurocognitive tests were administered. Data analysis on deltas considering years of education and BDNF as covariates, indicated active-tDCS + WMT significantly increased immediate memory indexed by Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test score when compared to sham. This effect was dependent on basal BDNF levels. In addition, the model showed active stimulation increased orthographic and semantic verbal fluency scores (Controlled Oral Word Association Test) and short-term memory (Forward Digit Span). The combination of both techniques seemed to produce effects on specific cognitive functions related to short-term and long-term episodic memory and executive functions, which has clinical relevance for top-down treatment approaches in FM.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive effects of transcranial direct current stimulation combined with working memory training in fibromyalgia: a randomized clinical trial

Santos

Zortéa

Alves

et al. 2018

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…All protocols were scored by three independent judges following the process described by Becker and Salles (2016).…”

Section: Measures and Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Verbal Fluency Development Across Childhood: Normative Data from Brazilian–Portuguese Speakers and Underlying Cognitive Processes

Becker

Piccolo

Salles

2019

Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective Verbal fluency (VF) tasks are widely used to investigate children’s lexical knowledge and executive functions skills. Consistency of measurement of the strategic retrieval components is still an issue and performance of Brazilian–Portuguese speaking children are currently not available. A cross-sectional study investigated the effects of age, school type (public × private) and the influence of language, memory and inhibitory control on VF. Method We assessed 414 Brazilian children, aged 6–12, in the number of words produced and both clustering and switching components, with two measures of VF: letter (LVF) and semantic (SVF). Results Analysis of the number of words produced showed a significant increase between 6–8-year-olds, 9–10-year-olds and 11–12-year-olds in SVF, while in LVF, the differences were significant only in the later age group. In SVF, the numbers of clusters and switches increased with age, whereas in LVF, the number of switches increased in all age groups, but clusters increased only in the older group. Structural equation model analyses showed that oral and written language, verbal memory and inhibitory control are associated with VF performance and IQ, while age mediated VF performance. Conclusions The results indicate a different development pattern between LVF and SVF in the number of words produced and in clustering and switching, with the latter predicting VF performance in words produced. VF development is shown to depend on language, memory and inhibitory control. Our results have important implications to clinical neuropsychology.

show abstract

“…21,22 One possible explanation for anxiety to be associated with lower switching performance in adolescents and young adults and with poorer clustering in children is that it might be a result of an interaction between anxiety severity and developmental period. In our sample, switching significantly increases with age (r = 0.316, p = 0.019), but, in contrast, no associations between clustering and age were observed (r = -0.006, p = 0.970).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phonemic verbal fluency and severity of anxiety disorders in young children

Toazza

Salum

Jarros

et al. 2016

Trends Psychiatry Psychother.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction: Previous studies have implicated impaired verbal fluency as being associated with anxiety disorders in adolescents. Objectives: To replicate and extend previously reported evidence by investigating whether performance in phonemic verbal fluency tasks is related to severity of anxiety symptoms in young children with anxiety disorders. We also aim to investigate whether putative associations are independent from co-occurring attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. Methods: Sixty children (6-12 years old) with primary diagnoses of anxiety disorders participated in this study. Severity of symptoms was measured using clinician-based, parent-rated and self-rated validated scales. Verbal fluency was assessed using a simple task that measures the number of words evoked in 1-minute with the letter F, from which we quantified the number of isolated words, number of clusters (groups of similar words) and number of switches (transitions between clusters and/or between isolated words). Results: There was a significant association between the number of clusters and anxiety scores. Further analysis revealed associations were independent from co-occurring ADHD symptoms. Conclusion: We replicate and extend previous findings showing that verbal fluency is consistently associated with severity in anxiety disorders in children. Further studies should explore the potential effect of cognitive training on symptoms of anxiety disorders.

show abstract

Methodological Criteria for Scoring Clustering and Switching in Verbal Fluency Tasks

Cited by 12 publications

References 45 publications

Cognitive effects of transcranial direct current stimulation combined with working memory training in fibromyalgia: a randomized clinical trial

Cognitive effects of transcranial direct current stimulation combined with working memory training in fibromyalgia: a randomized clinical trial

Verbal Fluency Development Across Childhood: Normative Data from Brazilian–Portuguese Speakers and Underlying Cognitive Processes

Phonemic verbal fluency and severity of anxiety disorders in young children

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About