Auditory and visual naming tests for children

Assessment of naming in children has been hampered by the use of tests that were developed, either to assess naming in adults or to assess related verbal functions in children. We developed comparable visual naming test (VNT) and auditory description naming (ANT) specifically for children. We collected normative data, not only for accuracy, typically the sole performance measure, but also for response time (RT) and reliance on phonemic cuing. The normative sample consisted of 200 typically developing children, ages 6-15, with 40 children per 2-year age group (6-7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-13, and 14-15). Children were tested individually by a trained examiner. Based on item analysis, naming tests were finalized at 36 items for ages 8-15 and 28 items for ages 6-7. Age-stratified normative data are provided for accuracy, mean RT, tip-of-the-tongues (i.e., delayed but accurate responses plus items named following phonemic cueing), and a summary score, which incorporates all performance measures. Internal and test-retest reliability coefficients for both tests were reasonable. Accuracy scores were high across age groups, indicating that item names were within the mental lexicon of most typically developing children. By contrast, time and cue-based scores improved with age, reflecting greater efficiency in word retrieval with development. These complementary auditory naming and visual naming tests for children address a longstanding clinical need, improving upon the current standard with respect to the sensitivity of performance measures and the addition of an auditory verbal component to the assessment of naming in children.