Verbal Fluency in Spanish-Speaking Children: Analysis Model According to Task Type, Clustering, and Switching Strategies and Performance Over Time

Abstract

Verbal fluency (VF) tasks are extensively used to measure strategic retrieval and executive functioning. Results for total production of words, clustering and switching strategies, and performance over time for Spanish-speaking children are provided. A total of 120 children, ranging in age from 8 to 11, were divided by age into two groups and evaluated. A higher total score for words produced in the semantic compared with the phonological task, a correlation between clustering and switching strategies and total score, and decreased task performance over time were evidenced. These scores were higher in the older group. Moreover, an association was found between verbal fluency tasks, strategies employed, and cognitive executive functions. This indicates that clustering and switching strategies provide indicators of strategic retrieval and executive processes. Together the results suggest that these fluency scores are valuable to measure underlying cognitive processes and retrieval strategies and therefore could be useful to assess executive function deficits in children.

Keywords:

• Verbal fluency
• Cognitive strategies
• Cognitive processing
• Executive functions
• Child neuropsychology

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Council of Scientific and Technological Research (CONICET), Argentina.

We are indebted to the school and all the children who contributed to this study. We also thank the valuable comments made by the anonymous reviewers.