Lexical Retrieval

In order to test the lexical abilities of the children, we used the SHEMESH naming test (Biran & Friedmann, 2005). This test includes 100 pictures of objects from various semantic categories. The object names (in Hebrew) are one to four syllables long, 3-10 phonemes, with ultimate and penultimate stress and with various first phonemes; they include both masculine and feminine nouns, with regular and irregular gender morphology. The frequency of the nouns ranges from 2.39 to 6.84 on a scale of 1 to 7 (M = 4.90, SD = 1.09). We analyzed the general number of errors and long hesitations each participant makes, as well as types of naming errors each participant produces and the frequency and length effects on naming.

To determine, for each child whether there is a lexical retrieval deficit, and if so - which component of the naming process is deficient, participants naming abilities were compared to an age matched control group and naming errors were analyzed by type to determine if and which component of the naming process is deficient.