Semantic Category Fluency Versus Initial Letter Fluency Over 60 Seconds as a Measure of Automatic and Controlled Processing in Healthy School-aged Children

Abstract

Verbal fluency was operationalized as the number of words produced in a restricted category (i.e., semantic category [SCF] and words beginning with a given letter [ILF]) in 60 seconds. Word production in the first 15 seconds of either type of fluency task was defined as a measure of automatic information processing, whereas word production in the remaining 45 seconds (in 15-second periods) was taken as a measure of controlled information processing. Data revealed that over 60 seconds healthy children aged 8.4-9.7 years (n = 91) produced significantly more words and less incorrect responses on the SCF task than on the ILF task. Although word production was a function of both type of task and time, it was highest in the initial time slice of either type of fluency and decreased as time on task increased. Finally, no sex differences were found for any measure of performance on either type of fluency task. In contrast, the level of occupational achievement of the caregiver (LOA) appeared to be a determinant of the child's performance on either type of fluency task, indicating that LOA affects higher-order processes, such as the automation of newly learned verbal skills and effortful processing.

Phonological and Semantic Verbal Fluency Tasks in a Sample of Argentinean Children

“…The dissociation found in the performance between SVF and PVF is in line with the fi ndings of Hurks et al (2006) and Matute et al (2004), which state that phonological and semantic verbal fl uency abilities are not jointly developed.…”

“…Because of this, verbal fl uencies are very sensitive measurements when it comes to evaluating cognitive plasticity and organization strategies Lezak et al, 2004;Stuss et al, 1998). Even though both tasks require executive demands (Hirshorn & Thompson-Schill, 2006), word recovery in the SVF is based on semantic associations and the meaning of each one of them, while the PVF implies strategies that are not typically used and which require more effort (Hurks et al, 2006). Both SVF and PVF are useful tools to diagnose certain neurological pathologies.…”

Verbal (animal) fluency scores in age/grade appropriate minority children from low socioeconomic backgrounds

“…This information is important for pediatric neuropsychologists when evaluating minority children with known or suspected brain disorders who come from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Recent research has suggested that some aspects of language and executive functioning may be adversely affected in young children from low socioeconomic backgrounds (Hurks et al, 2006;Noble et al, 2005). In the present study, we provide regional (Southwest) normative data on 213 school-age children.…”

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

“…La evidencia da cuenta de una mayor facilitad al realizar tareas de FVS que de FVF y esto parecería deberse a que, al momento de realizar la tarea, bastaría con que se active y recupere la información siguiendo el mismo criterio con el que ésta fue almacenada. Por otro lado, en una tarea de FVF la búsqueda se realizará de modo intercategorial a partir de un criterio fonológico Collins & Loftus, 1975;Hurks et al, 2006;Jacobsen, et al, 2017;Jacobsen, et al, 2016;Riva, et al, 2000).…”