Language Profiles and Naming in Children with Word Finding Difficulties

Abstract

Objective: To examine whether lexical access problems in children with word finding difficulties (WFDs) are restricted to measures of naming or include wider language impairments and the extent to which language skills are related to performance in the accuracy, latency and definitions of lexical items that are comprehended. Patients and Methods: Thirty-one children with identified WFDs completed a set of standardized language measures and an experimental naming and definition task. Results: The current cohort had difficulties with a range of language tasks. Phonological fluency and non-word repetition measures were significantly impaired and different from those of typically developing children. Phonological processes and measures of receptive and expressive language predicted accuracy in naming comprehended items but failed to predict the latency to name or the provision of accurate definitions. Conclusion: Children with WFDs often have additional language difficulties; these difficulties are predictive of performance on confrontational naming tasks. Latency to name, although a significant impairment, was not related to the standardized measures. Further research is needed to identify measures associated with speed of lexical retrieval. The data highlight the importance of examining the precursors to lexical access difficulties and examining different indices of lexical performance when intervening with children’s WFDs.