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Tomato and tuna: a test for language-free assessment of action understanding

Danek, Amory H; Gade, Miriam; Lunardelli, Alberta; Rumiati, Raffaella I (2013). Tomato and tuna: a test for language-free assessment of action understanding. Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology, 26(4):208-217.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: We introduce a novel test that allows pictorial, nonverbal assessment of action understanding.
BACKGROUND: Focusing on action goals and the sequential nature of actions, the "Tomato and Tuna Test" tests whether exposure to the accomplished goal of an action is sufficient to infer the preceding action. This aspect has rarely been addressed in conventional paradigms.
METHODS: We used the Tomato and Tuna Test in conjunction with another task, the Kissing and Dancing Test, to detect action understanding deficits in 11 patients (mean age 72 ± 6 years) with chronic brain lesions ± aphasia. We compared their performance to an age- and education-matched control group and to 15 young controls (mean age 24 ± 3 years). To investigate the influence of language deficits on test performance, we compared the scores of our patients with and without aphasia.
RESULTS: Our patients were less accurate than the matched controls on the Tomato and Tuna Test, though not slower. The Kissing and Dancing Test did not differentiate between patients and matched controls. Young controls performed better than patients on both tests.
CONCLUSIONS: We found no performance differences between our aphasic and nonaphasic patients, confirming our assumption that both tests measure action understanding without requiring intact language abilities. We recommend the "Tomato and Tuna Test" as a new nonverbal measure of action understanding that can reveal subtle deficits.

Additional indexing

Item Type:Journal Article, refereed, original work
Communities & Collections:06 Faculty of Arts > Institute of Psychology
Dewey Decimal Classification:150 Psychology
Scopus Subject Areas:Social Sciences & Humanities > Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
Life Sciences > Cognitive Neuroscience
Health Sciences > Psychiatry and Mental Health
Language:English
Date:2013
Deposited On:20 Feb 2014 08:25
Last Modified:11 Nov 2024 02:36
Publisher:Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
ISSN:1543-3633
OA Status:Closed
Publisher DOI:https://doi.org/10.1097/WNN.0000000000000012
PubMed ID:24378606
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