Level of Education and Category Fluency Task among Spanish Speaking Elders: Number of Words, Clustering, and Switching Strategies

It has been well documented that education influences the individual's performance on category fluency tasks but it is still unclear how this effect may differ across the different types of category tasks (i.e., animals, fruits, vegetables and clothing). This study aims (1) to analyze the effec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 2009-11, Vol.16 (6), p.721-744
Main Authors: Rosselli, Mónica, Tappen, Ruth, Williams, Christine, Salvatierra, Judy, Zoller, Yaron
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult. Elderly
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aging
Assessment
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition
Culture
Developmental psychology
Education
Educational Status
Elders
Female
Fluency
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hispanic Americans
Humans
Language
Language Tests
Linear Models
Male
Middle Aged
Multivariate Analysis
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Semantics
Sex Characteristics
Socioeconomic Factors
Spanish
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Summary:It has been well documented that education influences the individual's performance on category fluency tasks but it is still unclear how this effect may differ across the different types of category tasks (i.e., animals, fruits, vegetables and clothing). This study aims (1) to analyze the effect of the level of education on four different types of category fluency tasks among elder Hispanic Americans and (2) to provide normative information on a population with different education levels that was previously screened for neurological and psychiatric conditions. In addition this study examines the semantic strategies used by these individuals to complete the fluency tasks. The sample included 105 healthy Hispanic individuals (age 55-98; 29 males and 76 females) divided into three education groups (11 years of education). Results showed that after controlling for age and gender, education has a main effect and is a strong predictor of performance in verbal fluency for the categories animals and clothing with increasing educational attainment being associated with higher category fluency scores and with more switches between categories. These findings suggest that the category fruit is less influenced by level of education than the other three semantic categories and may be a more appropriate test across different educational groups. Results from this study provide a reference for clinicians assessing verbal fluency in Spanish speaking populations.
ISSN:1382-5585
1744-4128
DOI:10.1080/13825580902912739