Understanding Word Finding in Older Adults; Image Naming Norms Across the Age Range
Mentor 1
Sabine Heuer
Start Date
28-4-2023 12:00 AM
Description
Image naming tasks are used to better understand the linguistic processes of word-finding in people without and with neurologic communication disorders such as aphasia and dementia. Neurologic communication disorders become more common with increasing age. However, word finding is affected in both, healthy aging adults and people with neurologic disorders. Therefore, norms for image naming in older adults are important for defining what constitutes normal performances and to refine markers for impaired word finding. To date, norms for image naming in older adults are lacking. The purpose of this study is to provide norms for older adults free of neurologic impairments on a large set of photographs of everyday objects, normed on younger adults, the Bank of Standardized Stimuli (BOSS). Forty-five participants were recruited. All are native speakers of English, at least 40 years old, and free of neurologic deficits. Each participant was presented with 600 photographs derived from the BOSS on a computer screen and was asked to name each image as quickly and accurately as possible. The responses and response times (RT) were recorded. Accuracy, RT, modal name, and name agreement were analyzed Preliminary results revealed a mean accuracy of 82.48% and a mean response time of 2204 ms. Modal name agreement indicated an overall 66.34 % agreement across the 600 stimuli. The sample’s demographic composition and an analysis stratified by 10-year age bands will be presented. This is one of the very few studies that provides norms for image naming for adults 40-80 years of age. We aim to collect data on 60 older adults. Norms across the age range for image naming are a critical prerequisite for behavioral research that tackles theoretical as well as clinical questions.
Understanding Word Finding in Older Adults; Image Naming Norms Across the Age Range
Image naming tasks are used to better understand the linguistic processes of word-finding in people without and with neurologic communication disorders such as aphasia and dementia. Neurologic communication disorders become more common with increasing age. However, word finding is affected in both, healthy aging adults and people with neurologic disorders. Therefore, norms for image naming in older adults are important for defining what constitutes normal performances and to refine markers for impaired word finding. To date, norms for image naming in older adults are lacking. The purpose of this study is to provide norms for older adults free of neurologic impairments on a large set of photographs of everyday objects, normed on younger adults, the Bank of Standardized Stimuli (BOSS). Forty-five participants were recruited. All are native speakers of English, at least 40 years old, and free of neurologic deficits. Each participant was presented with 600 photographs derived from the BOSS on a computer screen and was asked to name each image as quickly and accurately as possible. The responses and response times (RT) were recorded. Accuracy, RT, modal name, and name agreement were analyzed Preliminary results revealed a mean accuracy of 82.48% and a mean response time of 2204 ms. Modal name agreement indicated an overall 66.34 % agreement across the 600 stimuli. The sample’s demographic composition and an analysis stratified by 10-year age bands will be presented. This is one of the very few studies that provides norms for image naming for adults 40-80 years of age. We aim to collect data on 60 older adults. Norms across the age range for image naming are a critical prerequisite for behavioral research that tackles theoretical as well as clinical questions.
