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Object-naming by Dysphasic Patients

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Abstract

IN previous communications1,2 two of us reported that with normal subjects the time taken to name an object is inversely proportional to the logarithm of the frequency of the name-word in the language, as estimated by a standard word-count3. These experiments were originally undertaken to clarify the incapacity to name objects shown by individuals who have suffered some forms of brain injury, and the study has accordingly now been extended to subjects of this kind. The technique has necessarily been simplified and now comprises manual display of cards bearing the 26 pictures of objects originally used, and timing with a stop-watch (1/100 sec) in place of the optical projection and timing by voice-key and pen-recorder in the experiment previously reported.

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References

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  2. Oldfield, R. C., and Wingfield, A., Quart. J. Exp. Psychol. (in the press).

  3. Thorndike, E. L., and Lorge, I., The Teacher's Word Book of 30,000 Words (Columbia University, New York, 1944).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Churchill Hospital,

    FREDA B. NEWCOMBE

  2. Medical Research Council Psycholinguistics Research Unit, Institute of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford,

    R. C. OLDFIELD & A. WINGFIELD

Authors
  1. FREDA B. NEWCOMBE
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  2. R. C. OLDFIELD
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  3. A. WINGFIELD
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NEWCOMBE, F., OLDFIELD, R. & WINGFIELD, A. Object-naming by Dysphasic Patients. Nature 207, 1217–1218 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1038/2071217a0

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