Performance of Brazilian children on phonemic and semantic verbal fluency tasks

Charchat-Fichman, Helenice; Oliveira, Rosinda Martins; Silva, Andreza Morais da

doi:10.1590/S1980-57642011DN05020004

Abstract

The most used verbal fluency paradigms are semantic and letter fluency tasks. Studies suggest that these paradigms access semantic memory and executive function and are sensitive to frontal lobe disturbances. There are few studies in Brazilian samples on these paradigms.

Objective:

The present study investigated performance, and the effects of age, on verbal fluency tasks in Brazilian children. The results were compared with those of other studies, and the consistency of the scoring criteria data is presented.

Methods:

A sample of 119 children (7 to 10 years old) was submitted to the three phonemic fluency (F, A, M) tasks and three semantic fluency (animals, clothes, fruits) tasks. The results of thirty subjects were scored by two independent examiners.

Results:

A significant positive correlation was found between the scores calculated by the two independent examiners. Significant positive correlations were found between performance on the semantic fluency task and the phonemic fluency task. The effect of age was significant for both tasks, and a significant difference was found between the 7- and 9-year-old subjects and between the 7- and 10-year-old subjects. The 8-year-old group did not differ to any of the other age groups.

Conclusion:

The pattern of results was similar to that observed in previous Brazilian and international studies.

Key words:
child development; memory; neuropsychological tests; executive functions; language tests; cognition.

Resumo

Os paradigmas de fluência verbal mais usados são tarefas de fluência verbal fonêmica e por categoria semântica. Estudos indicam que estes paradigmas acessam a memória semântica e as funções executivas. Existem poucos estudos com amostras brasileiras sobre estes paradigmas.

Objetivo:

Investigar o desempenho e efeito de idade de crianças brasileiras em paradigmas de fluência verbal, comparar os resultados com estudos estrangeiros e avaliar a consistência dos critérios de pontuação entre examinadores.

Métodos:

Uma amostra de 119 crianças, entre 7 e 10 anos de idade, foi submetida a três tarefas de fluência por letra (F, A, M) e três de fluência semântica (animais, roupas, frutas). Trinta protocolos foram pontuados por dois examinadores independentes.

Resultados:

Observou-se correlação positiva e significativa entre os escores calculados pelos dois examinadores independentes. Também verificou-se uma correlação positiva e significativa entre as tarefas de fluência semântica e entre as tarefas de fluência por letra. O efeito de idade foi significante para os dois tipos de tarefa e observou-se diferença significativa entre o desempenho dos grupos de 7 e 9 anos, assim como entre 7 e 10 anos de idade. O desempenho do grupo de 8 anos não foi diferente dos outros grupos.

Conclusão:

O padrão de resultados observado é comparável a estudos estrangeiros.

Palavras-chave:
desenvolvimento infantil; memória; testes neuropsicológicos,funções executivas; testes de linguagem; cognição.

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Full text available only in PDF format.

References

Laine M, Niemi J. Word fluency production strategies of neurological patients: semantic and letter based clustering. J Clin Exper Neuropsych 1988;10:28-35.
Strauss E, Sherman EMS, Spreen O. A compendium of neuropsychological tests: administration, norms, and commentary. 3rd edition. New York: Oxford University Press; 2006.
Benton AL. Multilingual aphasia examination. Iowa City: University of Iowa; 1976.
Mitrushina MN, Boone KB, D'Elia LF. Handbook of normative data for neuropsychological assessment. New York: Oxford University Press ; 1999.
Riva D, Nichelli F, Devoti M. Developmental aspects of verbal fluency and confrontation naming in children. Brain Lang 2001;71:267-284.
Sauzéon H, Lestage P, Raboutet C, N'Kaoua B, Claverie B. Verbal fluency output in children aged 7-16 as a function of the production criterion: qualitative analysis of clustering, switching processes, and semantic network exploitation. Brain Lang 2004;89:192-202.
Koren R, Kofman O, Berger A. Analysis of word clustering in verbal fluency of school-aged children. Arch Clin Neuropsychol 2005;20:1087-1104.
Nieto A, Galtier I, Barroso J, Espinosa G. Fluencia verbal en niños españoles en edad escolar: estudio normativo piloto y análisis de las estrategias organizativas. Rev Neurol 2008; 46:2-6.
Micelli G, Caltagirone C, Gainotti G, Masullo C, Silveri MC. Neuropsychological correlates of localized cerebral lesions in non-aphasic brain damaged patients. J Clin Neuropsychol 1981;3:53-63.
Troyer AK. Clustering and switching on verbal fluency tasks. J Clin Exp Neuropsych 1997;22:370-378.
Bjorklund DF, Douglas RN. The development of memory strategies. In: Cowan N, Hulme C (Eds.). The development of memory in childhood. Hove UK: Psychology Press;1997: 201-246.
Guttentag R. Memory development and processing resources. In: Cowan N, Hulme C (Eds.). The development of memory in childhood . Hove UK: Psychology Press ; 1997:247-274.
Golden CJ. A standardized version of Lurias neuropsychological tests. In: Filskov SB, Boll TJ (Eds.). Handbook of clinical neuropsychology. New York: Wiley; 1981:608-642.
Cantor-Graae E, Warkentin S, Franzen G, Risberg J. Frontal lobe challenge: a comparison of activation procedures during rCBF measurement in normal subjects. Neuropsych Neuropsychol Behav Neurol 1993;6:83-92.
Warkentin S, Risberg J, Nilsson A, Karlson S, Graae E. Cortical activity during speech production: a study of regional cerebral blood flow in normal subjects performing a word fluency task. Neuropsych Neuropsychol Behav Neurol 1991;4:305-316.
Marzocchi GM, Oosterlaan J, Zuddas A, et al. Contrasting deficits on executive functions between ADHD and reading disabled children. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2008;49:543-552.
Puentes-Rozo PJ, Barceló-Martínez E, Pineda DA. Características conductuales y neuropsicológicas de niños de ambos sexos, de 6 a 11 años, con trastorno por déficit de atención/hiperactividad. Rev Neurol 2008;47:175-184.
Geurts HM, Verté S, Oosterlaan J, Roeyers H, Sergeant JA. How specific are executive functioning deficits in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism? J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2004;45:836-854.
Mahone EM, Koth CW, Cutting L, Singer HS, Denckla MB. Executive function in fluency and recall measures among children with Tourette syndrome or ADHD. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2001;7:102-111.
Temple CM. Oral fluency and narrative production in children with Turner's syndrome. Neuropsychol 2002;40:1419-1427.
Brucki SMD, Rocha MSG. Category fluency test: effects of age, gender and education on total scores, clustering and switching in Brazilian Portuguese-speaking subjects. Braz J Med Biol Res 2004;37:1771-1777.
Ladeira RB, Diniz BS, Nunes PV, Forlenza OV. Combining cognitive screening tests for the evaluation of mild cognitive impairment in the elderly. Clinics 2009;64: 967-973.
Paes RA, Alvarenga RMP, Vasconcelos CCF, Negreiros MA, Landeira-Fernández J. Neuropsicología de la esclerosis múltiple primaria progresiva. Rev Neurol 2009;49:343-348.
Radanovic M, Diniz BS, Mirandez RM, et al. Verbal fluency in the detection of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease among Brazilian Portuguese speakers: the influence of education. Int Psychogeriatr 2009;21:1081-1087.
Yassuda MS, Diniz BS, Flaks MK, et al. Neuropsychological profile of Brazilian older adults with heterogeneous educational backgrounds. Arch Clin Neuropsychol 2009;24:71-79.
Heleno CT. Fluência verbal semântica em pré-escolares: estratégias de associação. Dissertação, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; 2006.
Braga LW, Souza LN, Najjar YJ, Dellatolas G. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and neuropsychological sequelae in children after severe traumatic brain injury: the role of cerebellar lesion. J Child Neurol 2007;22:1084-1089.
Patrick PD, Oriá RB, Madhavan V, et al. Limitations in verbal fluency following heavy burdens of early childhood diarrhea in Brazilian shantytown children. Child Neuropsych 2005;11:233-244.
Malloy-Diniz LF, Bentes RC, Figueiredo PM, et. al. Normalización de uma bateria de tests para evaluar lãs habilidades de comprensión del lenguaje, fluidez verbal y denominacion em niños brasileños de 7 a 10 años: resultados preliminares. Rev Neurol 2007;44:275-280.
Ferreira ABH. Novo Dicionário Aurélio da Língua Portuguesa, 3ª edição revista e atualizada. Curitiba: Editora Positivo, 2004.

Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
Apr-Jun 2011

History

Received
10 Feb 2011
Accepted
29 Apr 2011

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License

[1] Laine M, Niemi J. Word fluency production strategies of neurological patients: semantic and letter based clustering. J Clin Exper Neuropsych 1988;10:28-35.

[2] Strauss E, Sherman EMS, Spreen O. A compendium of neuropsychological tests: administration, norms, and commentary. 3rd edition. New York: Oxford University Press; 2006.

[3] Benton AL. Multilingual aphasia examination. Iowa City: University of Iowa; 1976.

[4] Mitrushina MN, Boone KB, D'Elia LF. Handbook of normative data for neuropsychological assessment. New York: Oxford University Press ; 1999.

[5] Riva D, Nichelli F, Devoti M. Developmental aspects of verbal fluency and confrontation naming in children. Brain Lang 2001;71:267-284.

[6] Sauzéon H, Lestage P, Raboutet C, N'Kaoua B, Claverie B. Verbal fluency output in children aged 7-16 as a function of the production criterion: qualitative analysis of clustering, switching processes, and semantic network exploitation. Brain Lang 2004;89:192-202.

[7] Koren R, Kofman O, Berger A. Analysis of word clustering in verbal fluency of school-aged children. Arch Clin Neuropsychol 2005;20:1087-1104.

[8] Nieto A, Galtier I, Barroso J, Espinosa G. Fluencia verbal en niños españoles en edad escolar: estudio normativo piloto y análisis de las estrategias organizativas. Rev Neurol 2008; 46:2-6.

[9] Micelli G, Caltagirone C, Gainotti G, Masullo C, Silveri MC. Neuropsychological correlates of localized cerebral lesions in non-aphasic brain damaged patients. J Clin Neuropsychol 1981;3:53-63.

[10] Troyer AK. Clustering and switching on verbal fluency tasks. J Clin Exp Neuropsych 1997;22:370-378.

[11] Bjorklund DF, Douglas RN. The development of memory strategies. In: Cowan N, Hulme C (Eds.). The development of memory in childhood. Hove UK: Psychology Press;1997: 201-246.

[12] Guttentag R. Memory development and processing resources. In: Cowan N, Hulme C (Eds.). The development of memory in childhood . Hove UK: Psychology Press ; 1997:247-274.

[13] Golden CJ. A standardized version of Lurias neuropsychological tests. In: Filskov SB, Boll TJ (Eds.). Handbook of clinical neuropsychology. New York: Wiley; 1981:608-642.

[14] Cantor-Graae E, Warkentin S, Franzen G, Risberg J. Frontal lobe challenge: a comparison of activation procedures during rCBF measurement in normal subjects. Neuropsych Neuropsychol Behav Neurol 1993;6:83-92.

[15] Warkentin S, Risberg J, Nilsson A, Karlson S, Graae E. Cortical activity during speech production: a study of regional cerebral blood flow in normal subjects performing a word fluency task. Neuropsych Neuropsychol Behav Neurol 1991;4:305-316.

[16] Marzocchi GM, Oosterlaan J, Zuddas A, et al. Contrasting deficits on executive functions between ADHD and reading disabled children. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2008;49:543-552.

[17] Puentes-Rozo PJ, Barceló-Martínez E, Pineda DA. Características conductuales y neuropsicológicas de niños de ambos sexos, de 6 a 11 años, con trastorno por déficit de atención/hiperactividad. Rev Neurol 2008;47:175-184.

[18] Geurts HM, Verté S, Oosterlaan J, Roeyers H, Sergeant JA. How specific are executive functioning deficits in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism? J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2004;45:836-854.

[19] Mahone EM, Koth CW, Cutting L, Singer HS, Denckla MB. Executive function in fluency and recall measures among children with Tourette syndrome or ADHD. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2001;7:102-111.

[20] Temple CM. Oral fluency and narrative production in children with Turner's syndrome. Neuropsychol 2002;40:1419-1427.

[21] Brucki SMD, Rocha MSG. Category fluency test: effects of age, gender and education on total scores, clustering and switching in Brazilian Portuguese-speaking subjects. Braz J Med Biol Res 2004;37:1771-1777.

[22] Ladeira RB, Diniz BS, Nunes PV, Forlenza OV. Combining cognitive screening tests for the evaluation of mild cognitive impairment in the elderly. Clinics 2009;64: 967-973.

[23] Paes RA, Alvarenga RMP, Vasconcelos CCF, Negreiros MA, Landeira-Fernández J. Neuropsicología de la esclerosis múltiple primaria progresiva. Rev Neurol 2009;49:343-348.

[24] Radanovic M, Diniz BS, Mirandez RM, et al. Verbal fluency in the detection of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease among Brazilian Portuguese speakers: the influence of education. Int Psychogeriatr 2009;21:1081-1087.

[25] Yassuda MS, Diniz BS, Flaks MK, et al. Neuropsychological profile of Brazilian older adults with heterogeneous educational backgrounds. Arch Clin Neuropsychol 2009;24:71-79.

[26] Heleno CT. Fluência verbal semântica em pré-escolares: estratégias de associação. Dissertação, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; 2006.

[27] Braga LW, Souza LN, Najjar YJ, Dellatolas G. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and neuropsychological sequelae in children after severe traumatic brain injury: the role of cerebellar lesion. J Child Neurol 2007;22:1084-1089.

[28] Patrick PD, Oriá RB, Madhavan V, et al. Limitations in verbal fluency following heavy burdens of early childhood diarrhea in Brazilian shantytown children. Child Neuropsych 2005;11:233-244.

[29] Malloy-Diniz LF, Bentes RC, Figueiredo PM, et. al. Normalización de uma bateria de tests para evaluar lãs habilidades de comprensión del lenguaje, fluidez verbal y denominacion em niños brasileños de 7 a 10 años: resultados preliminares. Rev Neurol 2007;44:275-280.

[30] Ferreira ABH. Novo Dicionário Aurélio da Língua Portuguesa, 3ª edição revista e atualizada. Curitiba: Editora Positivo, 2004.

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