Category Naming

About the Category Naming exercise

Packing for a trip or writing a shopping list, the words come in a rush at first, then slow down, then stop. The search for the next one, and the small nudge that gets it moving again, is the part worth practicing.

Category Naming is a free word finding practice activity. A category appears in large print, such as things in a kitchen, and the person names as many things in it as they can, out loud with a tap for each, or typed. When the words stop, the Clue button gives a little more help each time: a smaller group, a picture of one thing in it, its first sound, then the word itself. A round ends with plain counts and the words that needed a clue, to say once more.

What is divergent naming?

Speech-language pathologists talk about two kinds of naming. Convergent naming has one answer: a picture of a kettle, and the word kettle. Divergent naming has many: name all the things in a kitchen. Picture Naming practices the first, one picture at a time; Category Naming practices the second, one category at a time.

Speech-language pathologists often use divergent naming in word finding practice, for example with aphasia after a stroke, and naming things in a group is a familiar word game in group sessions for older adults. In studies, practice helped most with the words and the categories people practiced, which is why the categories here come from everyday life: the kitchen, the car, the pharmacy counter.

What Category Naming practices

Searching a category

A category is a big space to search with no picture to start from. Moving through it, thing by thing, is the core of the task.

Moving to a new smaller group

When one part of the kitchen runs dry, there is always another drawer. Switching to a fresh smaller group is often what gets the words going again.

Taking a clue from there

A picture or a first sound brings one word, and that word often brings its neighbors: a whisk leads to a ladle and a spatula.

Keeping going after a pause

Pauses are part of the search, not the end of it. The quiet time before the Clue button pulses gives the next word room to come.

How the tool works and what it records

Three free presets: three everyday categories up to 8 each with no clock, three everyday categories of one minute each, and two more specific categories of 90 seconds each. There are 64 categories in 11 everyday themes, each with three to six smaller groups for the clues. Pro opens the dials: one category, words that start with a letter (D, G, N or J), or two categories taking turns; a number to reach from 5 to 20 or a time from 30 seconds to 3 minutes; one to five categories in a round; everyday, more specific, describing or doing words; one theme, or up to five categories chosen by hand; four clue settings; and the quiet time before the Clue button pulses, from 5 to 30 seconds. Always free: answers said aloud or typed, who taps (the person or a helper), read aloud, large print, high contrast, the seconds on screen, the personal version (things in your kitchen) and the closing words.

Spoken answers are counted with a tap, I said one or They said one, and no microphone is used. Typed words stay on the device and are never sent. The results are plain counts for each category: words named, words in each 15 seconds, when the first word came, words after a clue and which kind, words after the word was shown, words said twice and words set aside; a helper's typed round adds the smaller groups used, runs of two or more in one group, switches between groups and the longest run. Signed-in users get 5 free rounds per tool per day; Pro removes the cap, saves rounds to the session log as counts only, sends the exercise home as a practice link, and prints practice sheets and a round record.

How the clue ladder works

A clue gives a little more help each time, from the least to the most, so the person keeps as much of the search as they can. After a word comes, the next clue starts a new smaller group.

1. Wait. After a quiet spell the Clue button pulses once. Nothing happens on its own.
2. A smaller group: think of the drawers, then the stove, then the fridge. Searching one part at a time is the strategy speech-language pathologists teach.
3. A picture: one thing from that group, from the same set of pictures as Picture Naming. Sometimes the picture points to the answer, such as a toaster for toast.
4. The first sound: the first letter in large type, read as its name, with the picture still showing.
5. The word: shown and read aloud, with a moment to say it before going on.
6. Once more, later: the words that needed a clue come back at the end of the round, to hear and say again.

Verbal fluency, from 1938 to now

In 1938 the psychologist L. L. Thurstone counted word fluency as one of the primary mental abilities: writing as many words as possible that begin with one letter, in a few minutes. In the 1960s Arthur Benton's group made the task spoken, and naming the members of a category in a minute became one of the most familiar tasks in clinics.

Two things from that research show up on this screen. The first 15 seconds bring the most words for almost everyone, and then they slow, so the results count words in each 15 seconds and say so plainly. And people tend to name in runs from one smaller group, then switch to another, which is why the first clue is a smaller group, and why a helper's typed round shows the runs and the switches.

Screen or paper?

The screen picks fresh categories, reads the category and every clue aloud, keeps the clues one step at a time, and counts what happened without anyone keeping notes. Paper suits a table with a pencil: Pro prints practice sheets with numbered lines and the smaller groups as prompts at the bottom, and the store's word finding article has a free set and the same cue ladder.

There is a word finding exercises for adults on rehabworksheets.com, with printable practice to try alongside.

Using it well

• Give the pause its time. Ten seconds of quiet feels long and is often when the next word comes. The Clue button pulses once and waits; nobody has to fill the silence.
• Use the Clue button, not the word. Saying a word for the person ends their search. The ladder gives a little help at a time, and the word itself only on the last step.
• Picture the place. For things in a kitchen, walk round it in the mind, drawer by drawer. Make it personal turns things in a kitchen into things in your kitchen.
• Welcome near words. A word that is close, a description or a gesture is part of the search. Count what fits, and let the rest go without comment.
• Stop on a good one. One good category is plenty on a tired day. Stop ends the round with the counts for the categories done.

Common questions