Category norms for Korean adults age 55 to 74

Abstract

Objectives: This study seeks to provide preliminary data on the production frequency and typicality of noun exemplars by semantic category for Korean adults age 55 to 74. Methods: A total of 401 individuals participated in the study. The study was divided into two parts. In experiment 1 (N=220), the subjects were given generative naming tasks from ten categories: clothing, kitchen utensils, personal belongings, vegetables, furniture, transportation, school supplies, electronic devices, flowers, and animals. In experiment 2 (N=216), the mean number of production and number of different words of noun exemplars were evaluated. The semantic typicality of each noun exemplar obtained from experiment 1 was also rated. Results: The category of items in fluency tasks, along with age and gender has a distinctive influence on the semantic networks of adults age 55 to 74. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that age-specific Korean category norms and data for semantic typicality are needed. In addition, these results are clinically meaningful given that they provide preliminary data to select stimuli item for naming treatment programs of patients with neurogenic language disorders. This study also provides a basis for future study on the internal structure of semantic networks in Korean adults and the efficacy of semantic feature analysis in naming treatment.