Comparison of developmental norms for the boston naming test

Abstract

The Boston Naming Test was originally developed for use with adults, but has also been used with children. Several sets of developmental norms have been published, but the samples on which the norms are based are small to moderate in size, and vary along important dimensions, including geographic distribution and ethnic composition. To investigate their comparability, the norms from all published studies were subjected to analyses of variance comparing the mean levels of performance at each age level for children from 5 to 13 years of age. Significant differences were obtained between studies at several age levels, although the differences explained less than 10% of the variance in all but one analysis. Because the differences were small in magnitude, the norms were combined. The combined norms increase linearly with age, with significant differences between all but two of the adjacent age levels. These findings may improve the reliability and validity of neuropsychological assessment of children when using the Boston Naming Test.