The ruff figural fluency test: A normative study with adults

Abstract

Tests of verbal production, or fluency, have proved to be reliable and sensitive indices of brain dysfunction in a variety of clinical populations. Also, numerous studies suggest that disturbed verbal fluency can be linked to specific brain lesions. Less is known, however, about figural fluency performance in normal or in clinical groups. Although Jones‐Gotman and Milner (1977) tested an experimental figural, or design, fluency test in a circumscribed group of brain‐impaired patients, their test lacked psychometric sophistication. Presented herein is a new figural fluency test in a sample of 358 normal adults. The test proved to be reliable, and the data support that the performance depended not on sex, but on age and education. Moreover, figural fluency did not correlate with measures of motor speed or verbal fluency; modest correlations, however, were present with Performance IQ. Finally, the potential for neuropsychological applications of this new test are discussed.