Verbal (animal) fluency scores in age/grade appropriate minority children from low socioeconomic backgrounds

Abstract

Two hundred-thirteen children in grades 1 through 8 were asked to rapidly generate as many names of animals as they could in 60 seconds. These children were age appropriate for their grade level in school, did not receive any form of special education services, and as a group showed (estimated) average intellectual ability. They were primarily from minority (particularly Hispanic) backgrounds and came from families with low socioeconomic status. Normative data are presented. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that the age range/grade level score accounted for 21.5% of the variability in fluency scores and the Vocabulary level of the child accounted for an additional 5.7%. Level of performance on this animal fluency task was not lower than what has been reported in primarily white children from middle socioeconomic backgrounds.