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Abstract

The Test of Word Finding in Discourse (TWF-D) was developed as a diagnostic instrument to identify children who potentially have word finding disorders defined by atypically high frequencies of word finding behaviors exhibited in verbal discourse. Validity evidence is provided by the present study demonstrating that the TWF-D efficiently and with a high degree of accuracy differentiates between children with clinically diagnosed word-finding disorders and normal learning children. A global index of word finding behaviors resulted in correct classification of over 90% of the children in both groups. Subsequent application of discriminant analysis results to a normative sample indicated that children identified using the TWF-D global index exhibited one of two primary word finding behavioral patterns: (a) atypically high substitution responses or atypically high reformulation, and (b) repetition responses in the presence of low substitution responses.

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The Test of Word-Finding in Discourse: Diagnostic Utility Evidence

Abstract

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References