The Naming Test

What is it about?

This is a test of Naming ability. It is used by neuropsychologists, neurologists and speech-language pathologists to examine naming ability among patients who have sustained a neurological illness that may have damaged the language areas of the brain. This test takes a novel approach to the conventional assessment of naming ability. It consists of 65 color photographic images illustrating objects or scenes that have common names. The test presentation also includes 20 sounds that have common names. If the subject cannot immediately name the stimulus, then the test allows you to present cues in hierarchical fashion. For images, this includes an associated sound stimulus, a semantic cue, a phonemic cue and multiple choices. For example, one trial first shows the photograph of a dog. If the subject cannot name the picture, then the examiner clicks on a button that plays the sound of the dog barking. The next cue level is semantic: the examiner clicks on a button that displays the phrase, This is a type of animal. The phonemic cue consists of the beginning sound element of the name: do. This is played as a standard digitized speech sound. In contrast to paper-and-pencil tests of this type, the examiner does not recite the phonemic cue. Finally, if the subject still cannot name the picture, the subject is shown a list of multiple choices and asked to choose the name. The computer presents stimuli and records the presentation of cues and correct and incorrect responses. The test is useful in examining the naming abilities of aphasic patients.