Language and Cognition Seminar: Verbal Fluency tests: Normative data for a Spanish Speaker Population

Speaker: Alejandra Morlett, M.S. - Virginia Commonwealth University 

The purpose of the presentation will be to share the normative data generated for the Verbal Fluency Tests across 11 countries in Latin America, with country-specific adjustments for gender, age, and education, where appropriate.

Verbal fluency tests are used to assess complex cognitive functioning, including executive dysfunction. These tests have been administered in a variety of populations, including patients with various neurological disorders (e.g. Traumatic Brain Injury). 

Verbal fluency tasks require individuals to be flexible, organize information, provide effort, and exercise inhibition when necessary. An inability to complete these tasks is suggestive of frontal lobe dysfunction, specifically dysfunction in the left frontal cortex. 

Previous studies have identified associations between demographic variables and both phonological and semantic fluency tests (e.g. age, education, sex). Studies have also shown differences in verbal fluency based on ethnicity, language, and geographic region. Specifically, Caucasians and non-Hispanics tend to produce more words on phonological and semantic tasks than individuals from other ethnic groups. 

To date, verbal fluency norms have been established for adults, most commonly with English speaking adults in the United States and Canada. 

There are only a small number of norms for Spanish-speaking individuals, none of which have been established in Latin America. Norms from Latin America, however, are non-existent, and as a result, there is a need to establish normative data on verbal fluency in Latin America given the paucity of research in this diverse region.