Picture naming test: Linguistic challenges of the method and ways to solve them

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Abstract

The paper considers benefits and drawbacks of the Picture Naming Test (PNT) as a diagnostic method suggesting the ways to improve its diagnostic and research validity. Although this test is popular in both national and international neuropsychological assessment and research practice, its use is largely due to tradition and practical convenience. However, theoretical underpinnings for its effectiveness are not sufficiently represented in the pertinent literature, which determines the relevance of the study. The major objective of the paper is to consider the PNT as a research technique from the point of view of psycholinguistics, cognitive science, and corpus linguistics and to propose integrated approaches for the further development of these tests. The material comprises picture naming tests developed for the Russian and English languages. The study sets the following aims: 1) to define the main features of PNT and the principles of its application viewed from a historical perspective; 2) to identify the theoretical foundations (linguistic and neuropsychological) for its use as a diagnostic tool; 3) to highlight the problematic aspects of the method; 4) to suggest possible ways to eliminate them. To accomplish these tasks, various methods of corpus linguistics are applied throughout the article. The historical outline of PNT development suggests that the current design might stem from earlier contexts of use. A review of existing models of lexical access provides a theoretical basis for the test in its current form and suggests possible avenues for its development grounded in experimental research, advances in linguistics and big data analysis. A separate section of the article presents critique of the most popular tests. Finally, the analysis of the existing English and Russian tests through the corpus-based methodology clearly demonstrates the need for more detailed norming and stimuli selection. By way of conclusion the authors outline the principles of designing Picture Naming Tests for specific purposes and put forward a step-by-step algorithm that enables careful selection of the necessary indicators and parameters.

About the authors

Olga I. Morkovina

Lomonosov Moscow State University; RUDN University

Email: olga.altukhowa@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0009-0006-9528-9450

holds a PhD in Philology and is a lecturer of the English Department of the Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics at Lomonosov Moscow State University, and a researcher at the RUDN Laboratory of Diagnostics and Advancing Cognitive Functions of the Research Institute for Brain Development and Peak Performance. Her research interests include neuro- and psycholinguistics, experimental methods of language learning, the study of conceptual metaphor, linguopoetics, and cognitive poetics.

Moscow, Russia

Luiza N. Gishkaeva

RUDN University

Email: gishkaeva-ln@rudn.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-7627-5375

holds a Ph.D. in Philology and is Associate Professor of the Department of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Philology at RUDN University (Moscow, Russia). The areas of her research include comparative study of languages and cultures, cultural specificity of the functioning of languages, discourse analysis, media text analysis, cultural semantics, and intercultural communication. She has authored and co-authored more than 70 publications, including articles, scientific reports, and book chapters.

Moscow, Russia

Anastasia A. Sharapkova

Lomonosov Moscow State University; RUDN University

Author for correspondence.
Email: sharapkova_aa@pfur.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5378-2729

holds a PhD in Philology and is a Lecturer of the English Department of the Faculty of Philology at Lomonosov Moscow State University. She is Head of the RUDN Laboratory of Diagnostics and Advancing Cognitive Functions at the Research Institute for Brain Development and Peak Performance. Her research interests include cognitive linguistics, the study of mythology as a cultural and cognitive phenomenon, and academic English. She is the author and co-author of numerous publications, including book chapters and articles in Russian and international journals, such as Issues of Cognitive Linguistics, Nauchnyi Dialog (Scientific Dialogue), Terminologija, Jezikoslavlje, among others.

Moscow, Russia

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