Semantic relevance best predicts normal and abnormal name retrieval.
The relevance of a semantic feature measures its contribution to the "core" meaning of a concept. In a naming-to-description task, we investigated the predictive power of relevance in comparison with frequency, familiarity, typicality, and Age-of-Acquisition. In a group of Alzheimer patients with semantic disorder, relevance turned out to be the best predictor of name retrieval accuracy in a naming-to-description task. The same pattern of results was observed in normal controls. Relations between semantic relevance and the parameters of the concepts are discussed in order to highlight the mechanism of concept activation in a naming-to-description task.
Sartori
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Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova, Via Venezia 8, I-35100 Padova, Italy. guiseppe.satori@unipd.it
Lombardi
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Mattiuzzi
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D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003210:Concept Formation / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009275:Names; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012660:Semantics; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology