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. 2023 Oct;30(7):2198-2211.
doi: 10.1177/10731911221117512. Epub 2022 Aug 18.

Assessment of Automatic and Controlled Retrieval Using Verbal Fluency Tasks

Martin Marko  1   2 , Drahomír Michalko  1 , Jozef Dragašek  3 , Zuzana Vančová  3 , Dominika Jarčušková  3 , Igor Riečanský  1   4   5
Affiliations

Assessment of Automatic and Controlled Retrieval Using Verbal Fluency Tasks

Martin Marko et al. Assessment. 2023 Oct.

Abstract

Category and letter verbal fluency assessment is widely used in basic and clinical research. Yet, the nature of the processes measured by such means remains a matter of debate. To delineate automatic (free-associative) versus controlled (dissociative) retrieval processes involved in verbal fluency tasks, we carried out a psychometric study combining a novel lexical-semantic retrieval paradigm and structural equation modeling. We show that category fluency primarily engages a free-associative retrieval, whereas letter fluency exerts executive suppression of habitual semantic associates. Importantly, the models demonstrated that this dissociation is parametric rather than absolute, exhibiting a degree of unity as well as diversity among the retrieval measures. These findings and further exploratory analyses validate that category and letter fluency tasks reflect partially distinct forms of memory search and retrieval control, warranting different application in basic research and clinical assessment. Finally, we conclude that the novel associative-dissociative paradigm provides straightforward and useful behavioral measures for the assessment and differentiation of automatic versus controlled retrieval ability.

Keywords: behavioral assessment; clinical assessment; cognitive control; inhibition; phonemic fluency; semantic fluency; semantic memory retrieval; structural equation modeling.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Retrieval performance in Verbal Fluency Tasks (A) and the Associative Chain Test (B) Notes. Inhibition cost represents the difference between the dissociative and the associative retrieval in fixed chains (gray bars). Switching cost represents the difference between the alternating (orange bars) and the fixed dissociative retrieval. Error bars represent ±SE. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001 (adjusted using Holm correction where appropriate).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Correlated Factor Model (A) and Pair-wise Correlations Between the Estimated Latent Retrieval Scores (B). Note. Panel A: standardized estimates; all covariates (curved arrows) and regression loads (straight arrows) were significant (p < .001). Panel B: bivariate correlation coefficients (Pearson’s r) between latent scores from the unconstrained model (CFMunc). ns = non-significant; Error bars represent ±SE; Latent factors/retrieval scores: CF = category; LF = Letter; AS = Associative; DS = Dissociative. *p < .05 and ***p < .001 (adjusted using Holm correction) indicate significant differences between the correlation coefficients.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Bifactor Model. Note. Panel A: Standardized parameter estimates (factor variances, regression loads, and error terms) with color-coded significance levels (bottom right). Note that only the Gr and DCS yielded consistently significant loadings and variance terms. Panel B: Mean explained variance (mean R2) for the indicators by latent factors. Error bars represent ±SE. Note that DCS explained the most variance of the respective indicators. Panel C: Estimated z-scores for the variance parameter of the latent factors. Latent factors: Gr = general; CF = category; LF = letter; AS = associative; DS = dissociative.
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