When a funnel becomes a martini glass: Adolescent performance on the Boston Naming Test

Abstract

The Boston Naming Test (BNT), a component of the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination, is often used by neuropsychologists to assess confrontation naming. Research indicates that performance on the BNT is impacted by a variety of factors including age, gender, measured intelligence, educational attainment, vocabulary knowledge, level of acculturation, and ethnicity. Extant normative data are available for adults and for younger children; however, descriptive data are lacking for neurologically intact adolescents. The current study obtained normative data for the BNT, second edition in 15- to 18-year-old adolescents. The sample included 200 participants (100 male, 100 female) who were screened to exclude individuals with neurologic, psychiatric, or academic difficulties. There were no statistically significant differences in BNT scores based on gender, age, or grade. Normative means and standard deviations, collapsed across age and gender, are provided. The relationship of the current data to existing child and adult norms, as well as the clinical utility of examining individual item responses for the BNT in this sample are addressed.