Cover not available

Article In: The Mental Lexicon: Online-First Articles

Psycholinguistic predictors of picture naming

Effects of age and bilingualism

ORCiD logo with link | University of OttawaOttawaOntario
ORCiD logo with link | University of OttawaOttawaOntario | Bruyère Health Research InstituteOttawaOntario
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
This study examined how six psycholinguistic variables, namely image agreement, concept familiarity, imageability, name agreement, word frequency, and age of acquisition, relate to picture naming accuracy and whether these associations vary as a function of age and bilingualism. Participants included younger and older adults who were either English monolinguals or English-French bilinguals. Older adults and monolinguals named more items correctly than younger adults and bilinguals, with no significant interaction between age and language. Principal components analysis reduced the six psycholinguistic variables to three components: lexical experience, stimulus agreement, and imageability. Generalized linear mixed model results showed that language group and stimulus agreement were associated with naming accuracy. The association between imageability and naming accuracy differed by both age and language group, while the association between lexical experience and naming accuracy differed by age. Overall, psycholinguistic influences on picture naming accuracy were selective rather than uniform across predictors and participant groups. The findings provide partial support for theoretical accounts suggesting that age and bilingualism influence the relationship between psycholinguistic variables and naming performance, highlighting the importance of considering broader clusters of psycholinguistic characteristics rather than isolated variables when examining picture naming across populations.
Article outline
  • Psycholinguistic predictors of picture naming: Effects of age and bilingualism
    • Psycholinguistic factors that affect picture naming accuracy
    • Impact of bilingualism and aging
    • Objective and hypotheses
  • Methods
    • Participants
    • Materials
      • 120-Item naming task
      • Psycholinguistic data
    • Procedures
  • Results
    • 103-Item Naming task accuracy: Age and language effects
    • Item-level accuracy and psycholinguistic correlates
    • Principal components analysis of psycholinguistic variables
    • Predicting naming accuracy using generalized linear mixed models
  • Discussion
    • Role of Item-level psycholinguistic properties
    • Age and language group moderate psycholinguistic effects on naming accuracy
    • Limitations and future directions
  • Conclusion
  • References
References (56)
References
Balota, D. A., Yap, M. J., Hutchison, K. A., Cortese, M. J., Kessler, B., Loftis, B., Neely, J. H., Nelson, D. L., Simpson, G. B., & Treiman, R. (2007). The English Lexicon Project. Behavior Research Methods, 39(3), 445–459. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., & Luk, G. (2012). Bilingualism: Consequences for mind and brain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16(4), 240–250. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bialystok, E., Craik, F., & Luk, G. (2008). Cognitive control and lexical access in younger and older bilinguals. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 34(4), 859–873. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bonin, P., & Fayol, M. (2002). Frequency effects in the written and spoken production of homophonic picture names. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 14(3), 289–313. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coltheart, M. (1981). The MRC psycholinguistic database. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A, 33(4), 497–505. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cuitiño, M. M., Soriano, F. G., Jaichenco, V., Steeb, B., & Barreyro, J. P. (2019). Predictors of picture naming and picture categorization in Spanish. East European Journal of Psycholinguistics, 6(1), Article 1. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ferré, P., Jarret, J., Brambati, S., Bellec, P., & Joanette, Y. (2020). Functional connectivity of successful picture-naming: Age-specific organization and the effect of engaging in stimulating activities. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 12, 535770. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Feyereisen, P. (1997). A meta-analytic procedure shows an age-related decline in picture naming: Comments on Goulet, Ska, and Kahn (1994). Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 40(6), 1328–1333. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gertel, V. H., Karimi, H., Dennis, N. A., Neely, K. A., & Diaz, M. T. (2020). Lexical frequency affects functional activation and accuracy in picture naming among older and younger adults. Psychology and Aging, 35(4), 536–552. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ghasisin, L., Yadegari, F., Rahgozar, M., Nazari, A., & Rastegarianzade, N. (2015). A new set of 272 pictures for psycholinguistic studies: Persian norms for name agreement, image agreement, conceptual familiarity, visual complexity, and age of acquisition. Behavior Research Methods, 47(4), 1148–1158. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gilhooly, K. J., & Logie, R. H. (1980). Age-of-acquisition, imagery, concreteness, familiarity, and ambiguity measures for 1,944 words. Behavior Research Methods & Instrumentation, 12(4), 395–427. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gollan, T. H., Fennema-Notestine, C., Montoya, R. I., & Jernigan, T. L. (2007). The bilingual effect on Boston Naming Test performance. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 13(2), 197–208. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gollan, T. H., Montoya, R. I., & Bonanni, M. P. (2005). Proper names get stuck on bilingual and monolingual speakers’ tip of the tongue equally often. Neuropsychology, 19(3), 278–287. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gollan, T. H., Montoya, R. I., Cera, C., & Sandoval, T. C. (2008). More use almost always means a smaller frequency effect: Aging, bilingualism, and the weaker links hypothesis. Journal of Memory and Language, 58(3), 787–814. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gollan, T. H., Montoya, R. I., Fennema-Notestine, C., & Morris, S. K. (2005). Bilingualism affects picture naming but not picture classification. Memory & Cognition, 33(7), 1220–1234. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gollan, T. H., Montoya, R. I., & Werner, G. A. (2002). Semantic and letter fluency in Spanish-English bilinguals. Neuropsychology, 16(4), 562–576. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gollan, T. H., Slattery, T. J., Goldenberg, D., Van Assche, E., Duyck, W., & Rayner, K. (2011). Frequency drives lexical access in reading but not in speaking: The frequency-lag hypothesis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 140(2), 186–209. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grandy, T. H., Lindenberger, U., & Schmiedek, F. (2020). Vampires and nurses are rated differently by younger and older adults — Age-comparative norms of imageability and emotionality for about 2500 German nouns. Behavior Research Methods, 52(3), 980–989. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Herbert, R., Hickin, J., Howard, D., Osborne, F., & Best, W. (2008). Do picture-naming tests provide a valid assessment of lexical retrieval in conversation in aphasia? Aphasiology, 22(2), 184–203. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hermans, D., Bongaerts, T., De Bot, K., & Schreuder, R. (1998). Producing words in a foreign language: Can speakers prevent interference from their first language? Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 1(3), 213–229. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ishii, Y., Uno, A., & Haruhara, N. (2019). Psycholinguistic Variables as Predictors of Colored-Picture Naming Latency and Accuracy. The Japan Journal of Logopedics and Phoniatrics, 60(2), 130–139. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ivanova, I., & Costa, A. (2008). Does bilingualism hamper lexical access in speech production? Acta Psychologica, 127(2), 277–288. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ivnik, R. J., Smith, G. E., Malec, J. F., Petersen, R. C., & Tangalos, E. G. (1995). Long-term stability and intercorrelations of cognitive abilities in older persons. Psychological Assessment, 7(2), 155–161. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jeryous Fares, B., & Taler, V. (2026). Investigating the effects of second language background, proficiency, and usage on episodic memory in middle-aged and older adults. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology / Revue Canadienne de Psychologie Expérimentale, 80(1), 1–9. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Johns, B. T., Sheppard, C. L., Jones, M. N., & Taler, V. (2016). The role of semantic diversity in word recognition across aging and bilingualism. Frontiers in Psychology, 7. [URL].
Kent, P. S., & Luszcz, M. A. (2002). A Review of the Boston Naming Test and Multiple-Occasion Normative Data for Older Adults on 15-Item Versions. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 16(4), 555–574. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kohnert, K. J., Hernandez, A. E., & Bates, E. (1998). Bilingual performance on the Boston Naming Test: Preliminary norms in Spanish and English. Brain and Language, 65(3), 422–440. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kroll, J. F., Bobb, S. C., & Wodniecka, Z. (2006). Language selectivity is the exception, not the rule: Arguments against a fixed locus of language selection in bilingual speech. Bilingualism, 9(2), 119–135. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kuperman, V., Stadthagen-Gonzalez, H., & Brysbaert, M. (2012). Age-of-acquisition ratings for 30,000 English words. Behavior Research Methods, 44(4), 978–990. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levelt, W. J. M., Schriefers, H., Vorberg, D., Meyer, A. S., Pechmann, T., & Havinga, J. (1991). The time course of lexical access in speech production: A study of picture naming. Psychological Review, 98(1), 122–142. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lund, K., & Burgess, C. (1996). Producing high-dimensional semantic spaces from lexical co-occurrence. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 28(2), 203–208. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Łuniewska, M., Wójcik, M., Kołak, J., Mieszkowska, K., Wodniecka, Z., & Haman, E. (2022). Word knowledge and lexical access in monolingual and bilingual migrant children: Impact of word properties. Language Acquisition, 29(2), 135–164. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mackay, A. J., Connor, L. T., Albert, M. L., & Obler, L. K. (2002). Noun and verb retrieval in healthy aging. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 8(6), 764–770. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mägiste, E. (1979). The competing language systems of the multilingual: A developmental study of decoding and encoding processes. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 18(1), 79–89. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mahava, F., Sheppard, C., Monetta, L., & Taler, V. (2016). The development of scoring criteria for a new picture naming task. Revue Interdisciplinaire Des Sciences de La Santé — Interdisciplinary Journal of Health Sciences, 6(1), 16–30. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Meschyan, G., & Hernandez, A. (2002). Age of acquisition and word frequency: Determinants of object-naming speed and accuracy. Memory & Cognition, 30(2), 262–269. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mitrushina, M., & Satz, P. (1995). Repeated testing of normal elderly with the Boston Naming Test. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, 7(2), 123–127. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Momenian, M., Bakhtiar, M., Chan, Y. K., Cheung, S. L., & Weekes, B. S. (2021). Picture naming in bilingual and monolingual Chinese speakers: Capturing similarity and variability. Behavior Research Methods, 53(4), 1677–1688. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Paolieri, D., Marful, A., Morales, L., & Bajo, M. T. (2018). The modulating effect of education on semantic interference during healthy aging. PLOS ONE, 13(1), e0191656. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Paplikar, A., Varghese, F., Alladi, S., Vandana, V. P., Darshini, K. J., Iyer, G. K., Kandukuri, R., Divyaraj, G., Sharma, M., Dhaliwal, R. S., Kaul, S., Saroja, A. O., Ghosh, A., Sunitha, J., Khan, A. B., Mathew, R., Mekala, S., Menon, R., Nandi, R., & Narayanan, J. (2022). Picture-naming test for a linguistically diverse population with cognitive impairment and dementia. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 57(4), 881–894. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Perret, C., & Bonin, P. (2019). Which variables should be controlled for to investigate picture naming in adults? A Bayesian meta-analysis. Behavior Research Methods, 51(6), 2533–2545. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ramscar, M., Hendrix, P., Shaoul, C., Milin, P., & Baayen, H. (2014). The myth of cognitive decline: Non-linear dynamics of lifelong learning. Topics in Cognitive Science, 6(1), 5–42. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Roberts, P. M., Garcia, L. J., Desrochers, A., & Hernandez, D. (2002). English performance of proficient bilingual adults on the Boston Naming Test. Aphasiology, 16(4–6), 635–645. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rossion, B., & Pourtois, G. (2004). Revisiting Snodgrass and Vanderwart’s object pictorial set: The role of surface detail in basic-level object recognition. Perception, 33(2), 217–236. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Salthouse, T. A. (1996). The processing-speed theory of adult age differences in cognition. Psychological Review, 103(3), 403–428. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schmitter-Edgecombe, M. (2000). Aging and Word-Finding A Comparison of Spontaneous and Constrained Naming Tests. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 15(6), 479–493. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shariat, M., Moayedfar, S., & Ghasisin, L. (2022). Psycholinguistic norms for 92 action pictures and verbs in the Persian language in young- and middle-aged people. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult, 29(5), 1198–1207. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sheppard, C., Kousaie, S., Monetta, L., & Taler, V. (2016). Performance on the Boston Naming Test in bilinguals. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 22(3), 350–363. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Silagi, M. L., Bertolucci, P. H. F., & Ortiz, K. Z. (2015). Naming ability in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease: What changes occur with the evolution of the disease? Clinics, 70(6), 423–428. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Snodgrass, J. G., & Vanderwart, M. (1980). A standardized set of 260 pictures: Norms for name agreement, image agreement, familiarity, and visual complexity. Journal of experimental psychology. Human learning and memory, 6(2), 174–215. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tomoschuk, B., Ferreira, V. S., & Gollan, T. H. (2019). When a seven is not a seven: Self-ratings of bilingual language proficiency differ between and within language populations. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 22(3), 516–536. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Trudeau-Meisner, M., Johns, B. T., & Taler, V. (2025). Contextual diversity and picture naming: The role of aging and bilingualism. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 1–17. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wagner, D., Bialystok, E., & Grundy, J. G. (2022). What is a language? Who is bilingual? Perceptions underlying self-assessment in studies of bilingualism. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wen, H., & Dong, Y. (2023). The effect of ageing on confrontation naming in healthy older adults: A three-level meta-analysis. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 35(4), 480–508. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zec, R. F., Burkett, N. R., Markwell, S. J., & Larsen, D. L. (2007). A cross-sectional study of the effects of age, education, and gender on the Boston Naming test. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 21(4), 587–616. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zec, R. F., Markwell, S. J., Burkett, N. R., & Larsen, D. L. (2005). A longitudinal study of confrontation naming in the “normal” elderly. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 11(06). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 jbe-platform.quadraat-sans-bold jbe-platform.quadraat-sans-bold-dark jbe-platform.quadraat-sans-bold-light jbe-platform.quadraat-sans-bold prag Twitter_Logo_Blue