Houison, Ron (2015) The Effect of Short-Duration Semantic Training on Verbal Fluency Tasks in an Unimpaired Sample. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Verbal fluency (phonetic and semantic fluency) tasks are widely used in neuropsychological assessment due to their sensitivity to brain damage. The production of words within a category (e.g., animals) is typically achieved through the spreading activation of semantic memory networks in conjunction with an executive component that provides complimentary search strategies. Brain damage resulting from stroke can affect the ability to effectively access semantic memory and impact the ability to communicate, resulting in an increase in the incidence of mood disorders and a subsequent decrease in patients’ quality of life. Recent research has shown that verbal fluency does not improve with practice on verbal fluency tasks, prompting this study into improving performance through the use of a short-duration effortful cognitive task as a training intervention. Sixty unimpaired participants were recruited and randomly assigned to one of three conditions: An experimental group (n = 20) solved anagrams with primed exemplars from two of the tested categories; an active control group (n = 20) solved anagrams with no primed exemplars; and a passive control group (n = 20) engaged in casual conversation in place of an intervention. Prior to, and following, the training intervention the participants were administered the Semantic Test (Tehan, 2015), consisting of three trials of one minute duration in which participants were asked to produce as many words as possible from a nominated category (i.e., animals, countries, and fruit and vegetables). This research reported a significant improvement in verbal fluency as a result of the training intervention.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
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| 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: | Gerry Tehan |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 26 Aug 2025 23:41 |
| Last Modified: | 26 Aug 2025 23:41 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Verbal fluency, semantic memory, training intervention, anagram |
| 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/52425 |
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