Most cognate research suggests facilitation effects in picture naming, but how these effects manifest in bilinguals after brain damage remains unclear. Additionally, whether this effect is captured in clinical measures is largely unknown. Using data from the Boston Naming Test, we examined the naming of cognates and noncognates, the extent of cognate facilitation produced, and the individual differences in bilingual language experience associated with naming outcomes in forty Spanish–English bilingual persons with aphasia (BPWA) relative to thirty-one Spanish–English healthy bilinguals (HB). Results suggest that naming performance in L1 and L2 in both groups is modulated by lexical frequency, bilingual language experience, and by language impairment in BPWA. Although the two groups showed similarities, they deviated in benefit drawn from the extent of phoneme/grapheme overlap in cognate items. HB showed an association between cognate facilitation and bilingual language experience, while cognate facilitation in BPWA was only associated with L2 language impairment.

The performance of cognitive tests is highly dependent on the proficiency of the language in which the tests are administered. Not all Indonesians speak Indonesian daily and many are bilingual. We investigate whether language(s) spoken affects the performance on three language tests in 840 participants ranging in age (16–80) and education (6–22 years). Analysis of covariance followed by Helmert contrasts showed a disadvantage on the Boston Naming Test (BNT) and on the most difficult items of the Token Test for those who do not speak Bahasa daily. Bilinguals did worse on the BNT. Education had a large positive effect on the language tests, age a smaller negative effect. This suggests that besides age and education, the factor of language spoken, either in public or at home, needs to be taken into account when a participant's test scores on the BNT and TT are interpreted and compared with normative data.

Scores on the Boston Naming Test (BNT) are frequently lower for African American when compared with Caucasian adults. Although demographically based norms can mitigate the impact of this discrepancy on the likelihood of erroneous diagnostic impressions, a growing consensus suggests that group norms do not sufficiently address or advance our understanding of the underlying psychometric and sociocultural factors that lead to between-group score discrepancies. Using item response theory and methods to detect differential item functioning (DIF), the current investigation moves beyond comparisons of the summed total score to examine whether the conditional probability of responding correctly to individual BNT items differs between African American and Caucasian adults. Participants included 670 adults age 52 and older who took part in Mayo’s Older Americans and Older African Americans Normative Studies. Under a two-parameter logistic item response theory framework and after correction for the false discovery rate, 12 items where shown to demonstrate DIF. Of these 12 items, 6 (“dominoes,” “escalator,” “muzzle,” “latch,” “tripod,” and “palette”) were also identified in additional analyses using hierarchical logistic regression models and represent the strongest evidence for race/ethnicity-based DIF. These findings afford a finer characterization of the psychometric properties of the BNT and expand our understanding of between-group performance. (JINS, 2009, 15, 758–768.)

The longitudinal effects of age on confrontation naming using the 60-item Boston Naming Test (BNT) were studied in 541 “normal” elderly (ages 50–99). For participants with at least 4 annual assessments (n = 238), 150 were followed for ≥6 years, 81 for ≥8 years, and 43 for ≥10 years. A small practice effect (0.21 words, p = 0.06) and moderately high test-retest reliability were found when comparing the first 2 assessments, which were 9–15 months apart (r = 0.76, n = 353). Reliable change index scores indicated that an annual decline of ≥4 points on the BNT is needed for a statistically reliable decline in an individual. A gradient in the mean annual rate of change on the BNT was found with improvement in the 50s age group, no change in the 60s age group, and decline in the 70s and 80s age groups. When projected over 10 years, the magnitudes of the mean changes were relatively small, that is, a 1-word improvement for participants in their 50s and a 1.3-word decline for participants in their 70s. These findings demonstrate that lexical retrieval as measured by a visual object confrontation naming task is generally well preserved in aging with only subtle decline in the 7th and 8th decades of age. (JINS, 2005, 11, 716–726.)

As the incidence of dementia increases, there is a growing need to determine the diagnostic utility of specific neuropsychological tests in the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, the relative utility of Boston Naming Test (BNT) in the diagnosis of AD was examined and compared to the diagnostic utility of other neuropsychological measures commonly used in the evaluation of AD. Individuals with AD (n = 306), Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI; n = 67), and cognitively normal subjects (n = 409) with at least 2 annual evaluations were included. Logistic regression analysis suggested that initial BNT impairment is associated with increased risk of subsequent AD diagnosis. However, this risk is significantly less than that imparted by measures of delayed recall impairments. A multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis suggested that BNT impairment imparted no additional risk for subsequent AD diagnosis after delayed recall impairments were included in the model. Although BNT impairment occurred in all severity groups, it was ubiquitous only in moderate to severe dementia. Collectively these results suggest that although BNT impairments become more common as AD progresses, they are neither necessary for the diagnosis of AD nor particularly useful in identifying early AD. (JINS, 2004, 10, 504–512.)

Confrontation naming of 52 unilateral or bilateral brain-damaged Chinese patients were examined with a modified version of the Boston Naming Test (BNT). Chinese patients with left or right hemisphere lesions, contrary to studies on English speakers, demonstrated similar levels of naming impairments, supporting the notion that English and Chinese are mediated by different neuroprocessing systems. In addition, the psychometric properties of the BNT on Chinese population were examined. While the test demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency and discriminant validity, level of education was found to be a significant factor affecting participants' performance. A cut-off score of 24 in spontaneous naming yielded a sensitivity of 73.1% and specificity of 75.3% in differentiating normal from brain-damaged participants, suggesting that the modified BNT is applicable to the Chinese population. (JINS, 2004, 10, 46–53.)