Mini Boston Naming Test [mBNT]

Instrument Description

The Mini Boston Naming Test (mBNT) is an assessment instrument designed to evaluate object naming ability, particularly visual confrontation naming. This function is closely associated with language ability and may be affected in individuals with dementia or other neurological disorders.

According to the provided material, the full version consists of 30 black-and-white pictures of objects, which are presented to the participant for naming. A shorter version containing 15 pictures is also available. The pictures are arranged in increasing order of difficulty.

The mBNT therefore provides a structured method for examining an individual’s ability to recognize a visually presented object and retrieve its corresponding verbal label.

Objective

The primary objective of the mBNT is to assess object naming and, more specifically, visual naming ability.

The assessment provides information about the participant’s ability to identify visually presented objects and produce their correct names. According to the source document, this ability is closely related to language functioning and is frequently affected in dementia and other neurological conditions.

The instrument can therefore contribute to the assessment of naming performance within a broader examination of language and cognitive functioning.

Structure and Administration

The full version described in the source consists of 30 black-and-white object pictures, while a shorter version contains 15 pictures. The stimuli are arranged from easier to more difficult items.

Participants are asked to name each object presented to them. If a participant does not provide an answer within 20 seconds, a phonemic cue may be provided, such as the first letter or sound of the target word.

According to the source material, the expected normal response is spontaneous naming without assistance.

Scoring

The source document indicates that scoring takes into consideration several aspects of performance:

Correct responses without assistance: the number of objects correctly named spontaneously.

Correct responses with a phonemic cue: responses correctly produced following the provision of a cue.

Correct repetitions: the number of correctly repeated responses.

Errors: the number of incorrect responses.

Correct responses following assistance: performance after the provision of help or prompting.

For the 30-picture version, the maximum score reported in the document is 30.

The source also reports values of 16/30 for healthy participants and 8/15 for patients. However, because the document does not provide a more detailed explanation of how these values should be interpreted, they should be applied only within the context of the specific version and study from which they were derived.

Data Analysis

Analysis of mBNT data may focus on overall naming performance as well as the different types of responses recorded during administration.

Researchers may examine spontaneous correct responses, responses obtained following phonemic assistance, repetitions, and naming errors. This approach can provide a more detailed profile of the participant’s naming performance than reliance on a single score alone.

Descriptive statistics may be used to summarize performance, while comparisons between different participant groups can be conducted when appropriate to the research design.

Greek Sample

According to the provided material, the mBNT has been administered to a Greek sample of older adults with and without Alzheimer’s-type dementia.

The sample described in the document consisted of 74 healthy participants, with a mean age of 71 years, and 52 patients with Alzheimer’s-type dementia. The document also refers to the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) in relation to the assessment of the patient group.

Validity

The source document reports a strong association between mBNT performance and cognitive functioning, with a correlation of r = 0.81 with general cognitive performance.

It also reports a sensitivity of 95.6% for the full test, while the shorter version demonstrated a sensitivity of 88.4%.

These findings support the usefulness of the instrument within the populations and assessment contexts examined in the cited studies.

Applications

The mBNT can be used to investigate visual confrontation naming and related language functioning, particularly within neuropsychological assessment.

Its shorter format may be useful when a more time-efficient assessment is required. Furthermore, distinguishing between spontaneous naming and naming following assistance can provide additional information about an individual’s performance.

The mBNT can form part of a broader assessment of language and cognitive abilities, particularly when naming difficulties are being investigated. Its findings should therefore be interpreted within the wider assessment context rather than in isolation.

References

Kaplan, E., Goodglass, H., Weintraub, S., & Segal, O. (1983). Boston Naming Test. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger.

Marien, P., Mampaey, E., Vervaet, A., Saerens, J., & De Deyn, P. (1998). Normative data for the Boston Naming Test in native Dutch-speaking Belgian elderly. Brain and Language, 65, 447–467.

Tsantali, E., Lekka, S., & Tsolaki, M. (2005, March 31–April 3). The two short versions of the Boston Naming Test in Alzheimer’s-type dementia – Greek version. 4th Panhellenic Interdisciplinary Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders, Thessaloniki.

Tsolaki, E., Lekka, S., Tsolaki, M., & Kazis, A. (2003). Presentation and adaptation of the Boston Naming Test (BNT) to Greek data and its reliability and validity in relation to the MMSE. Encephalos, 40, 190–200.

Tsolaki, M., Tsantali, E., Lekka, S., Kiosseoglou, G., & Kazis, A. (2003). Can Boston Naming Test be used as clinical tool for differential diagnosis in dementia? – Greek short versions of BNT. Brain and Language, 87(1), 185–186.

The references above follow the bibliography provided in the uploaded document, including the studies concerning the Greek adaptation and short versions of the BNT.