Psycholinguistic predictors of picture naming

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.