title: Predicting verbal fluency using Word Reading: Implications for premorbid functioning.
abstract: The estimation of premorbid general intellectual functioning using word reading tests has a rich history of validation and is a common assessment practice for neuropsychologists. What is less well-researched is the approach used to estimate premorbid functioning of non-intellectual domains, such as executive functions, including verbal fluency. The current study evaluated this relationship with 41 adult college students who completed the Word Reading subtest of the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-Second Edition (WIAT-II) and the Verbal Fluency test from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS). Path analysis indicated that only Letter Fluency (a measure of phonemic fluency) was statistically significantly related to Word Reading and the relationship was somewhat weak. The relationship between Category Fluency (a measure of semantic fluency) and Category Switching (a measure of verbal fluency cognitive set-shifting) to Word Reading was nonsignificant. Participants also completed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III), and as expected a strong relationship was found between Word Reading and the Verbal IQ (VIQ), Performance IQ (PIQ), and Full Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ). Results of this study strongly suggest that caution be exercised when extrapolating an estimate of premorbid verbal fluency abilities from measures of word reading.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Educational Psychology , Ball State University , Muncie , IN , USA.
authors.forename: Andrew S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: a Department of Educational Psychology , Ball State University , Muncie , IN , USA.
authors.forename: W Holmes
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Finch
authors.affiliation: a Department of Educational Psychology , Ball State University , Muncie , IN , USA.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Drapeau
authors.affiliation: a Department of Educational Psychology , Ball State University , Muncie , IN , USA.
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nogin
authors.affiliation: a Department of Educational Psychology , Ball State University , Muncie , IN , USA.
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: E Moss
authors.affiliation: a Department of Educational Psychology , Ball State University , Muncie , IN , USA.
authors.forename: Brittney
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Moore
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011932:Reading; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D014825:Vocabulary; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cognition; neuropsychology; test construction