The effect of dimension and vocabulary age on rapid picture naming in children

Abstract

This investigation involved measures of the reaction times of normally developing children who were asked to name a series of centrally presented picture stimuli of varying vocabulary age and dimension. Results of the ANOVA on reaction times indicated a significant main effect of vocabulary level and an interaction of Dimension×Vocabulary level for the normally developing children. Post-hoc tests showed significant differences between two- and three-dimensional pictures for higher-level vocabulary items, but not for lower-level vocabulary items. This finding indicates that central operations involved in picture naming are influenced differentially by the physical characteristics of the stimulus items. The finding that two-dimensional higher-level vocabulary items were associated with significantly longer reaction times than the three-dimensional higher-level vocabulary suggests that dimensionality may be a critical feature for rapid lexical access for higher-level picture vocabulary. Clinically, the employment of three-dimensional forms may facilitate access to stored visual object memory for advanced levels of picture vocabulary. Learning outcomes: As a result of this activity, participants will be able to (1) identify the various visual and verbal processes involved in the naming of pictures; and (2) understand the influence of physical characteristics of pictures on reaction time in rapid naming tasks.