Developing the first Lebanese Picture Naming Test : a preliminary study

Abstract

Naming ability is a significant predictor of cognitive performance and it plays an essential role in neuropsychological and academic evaluations. At present, there are no standardized tests that are culturally and linguistically appropriate to assess naming ability in lebanese children. Practitioners in lebanon still rely on naming tests developed in western countries, which may threaten the validity of the test results and lead to erroneous conclusions. One solution is to develop a picture-naming test that is culturally suitable for lebanese children. The purpose of the study is threefold. First, obtain the first lebanese database of psycholinguistic variables for a set of 219 picture words based on eight experts’ ratings of cultural familiarity, name agreement, word frequency and age of acquisition. Second, based on the ratings, develop and pilot the first draft of the picture-naming test for typically developing lebanese children between the ages of 3 and 9 years enrolled in private and public schools in beirut. Finally, implement modifications to the test based on test item parameters and results derived from the piloting phase. The test construction method adopts a dual-focus approach for test development in order to develop items in arabic, english and french simultaneously and reduce linguistic and cultural biases. The first-draft picture-naming test was piloted on 74 lebanese children between the ages of 3-0 and 9-11 enrolled in private and public school in beirut. Results were analyzed at the sample level and the item level. Further test revisions are suggested and future directions are outlined.