Picture Naming in Language-Impaired Children

Abstract

A picture-naming task was used to examine word-finding problems in language-impaired children. The subjects included 20 language-impaired children, 20 normal children matched to the language-impaired children for chronological age, and 20 normal children matched to the language-impaired children on a composite index of language age. Children were shown 64 pictures of objects and asked to name each as rapidly as possible. The principal findings were that (a) pictures of objects with more frequently occurring names were named more rapidly than pictures of objects with less frequently occurring names; (b) language-impaired children named pictures less rapidly than their chronological-age peers but more rapidly than their language-age peers; and (c) the effects of frequency of occurrence on naming time were comparable for all three groups of children. Factors that may have accounted for the findings are discussed.