Harrison, Jessica 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7888-7906
(2017)
Verbal Fluency Tests: The Underlying Cognitive Processes in a Clinical Sample.
Honours thesis,
University of Southern Queensland.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Verbal fluency tests are commonly utilised in cognitive assessment, requiring participants to rapidly name words that begin with a particular letter (letter fluency) or belong to a specific category (category fluency). Little is known, however, about the cognitive processes involved with these tests. This study aimed to determine the underlying cognitive processes measured by verbal fluency tests in a clinical sample. Archival data was sourced from clinical and forensic databases, where all cases had undergone comprehensive psychological assessment. All cases had data available for a letter verbal fluency test where they had to produce words beginning with F, A, and S, and a category verbal fluency test where they had to name animals. To examine cognitive processes used across time, 2 scores were used for each test: the total words produced for the first 30 seconds, and the last 30 seconds. Principal axis factoring was conducted on the verbal fluency data, along with data available for verbal comprehension, reading, auditory attention, and verbal memory, to examine the cognitive processes relied upon in verbal fluency tests. The results showed weak cross-loadings for the last 30 seconds of letter fluency, leaving the cognitive influences on this variable undetermined. The first 30 seconds of letter fluency loaded onto a “Language” factor, while both category variables loaded onto a “Memory Efficiency” factor. Impaired verbal fluency performance can, therefore, be used to guide clinicians towards more targeted assessment of language or memory.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Adina Piovesana; Graeme Senior |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Aug 2025 01:04 |
| Last Modified: | 20 Aug 2025 01:04 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Verbal Fluency, Word Fluency, Cognitive, Clinical |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52392 |
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