Skip to main content

Controlled Oral Word Association Test

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:

Synonyms

Category fluency; CFL test; COWA; COWAT; F-A-S test; Letter fluency; Phonemic fluency; Verbal fluency

Description

The Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT) is a measure of verbal fluency and is a subtest of the Multilingual Aphasia Examination (MAE; Benton et al. 1994). The COWAT uses two three letter sets – C, F, and L; and P, R, and W (Ross et al. 2006) – to assess phonemic fluency. Individuals are given 1 min to name as many words as possible beginning with one of the letters. The procedure is then repeated for the remaining two letters (see Strauss et al. 2006; Benton et al. 1994 for specific administration instructions). Several tests of phonemic fluency exist, some of which are part of larger test batteries (e.g., the MAE or the Neurosensory Center Comprehensive Examination for Aphasia; Spreen and Benton 1977) and others that can be administered independently (e.g., the F-A-S Test).

Verbal fluency is a cognitive function that facilitates information retrieval...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   899.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   1,099.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References and Readings

  • Barry, D., Bates, M. E., & Labouvie, E. (2008). FAS and CFL forms of verbal fluency differ in difficulty: A meta-analytic study. Applied Neuropsychology, 15, 161–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benton, A. L., Hamsher, K., Rey, G. L., & Sivan, A. B. (1994). Multilingual aphasia examination (3rd ed.). Iowa City: AJA Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolla, K. I., Gray, S., Resnick, S. M., Galante, R., & Kawas, C. (1998). Category and letter fluency in highly educated older adults. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 12(3), 330–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borkowski, J. G., Benton, A. L., & Spreen, O. (1967). Word fluency and brain damage. Neuropsychologia, 5, 135–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodglass, H., Kaplan, E., & Baressi, B. (2001). Boston diagnostic aphasia examination (3rd ed.). San Antonio: Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kertesz, A. (2006). Western aphasia battery. New York: Grune & Stratton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lezak, M. D., Howieson, D. B., Loring, D. W., Hannay, H. J., & Fischer, J. S. (2004). Neuropsychological assessment (4th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loonstra, A. S., Tarlow, A. R., & Sellers, A. H. (2001). COWAT metanorms across age, education and gender. Applied Neuropsychology, 8, 161–166.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez-Aranda, C., & Martinussen, M. (2006). Age-related differences in performance of phonemic verbal fluency measured by Controlled Oral Word Association Task (COWAT): A meta-analytic study. Developmental Neuropsychology, 30(2), 697–717.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ross, T. P., Furr, A. E., Carter, S. E., & Weinberg, M. (2006). The psychometric equivalence of two alternate forms of the Controlled Oral Word Association Test. The Clinical Neuropsychlogist, 20, 414–431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ross, T. P., Calhounn, E., Cox, T., Wenner, C., Kono, W., & Pleasant, M. (2007). The reliability and validity of qualitative scores for the Controlled Oral Word Association Test. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 22, 475–488.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Spreen, O., & Benton, A. L. (1977). Neurosensory center comprehensive examination for aphasia. Victoria: University of Victoria Neuropsychology Laboratory.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spreen, O., & Risser, A. H. (2003). Assessment of aphasia. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strauss, E., Sherman, E. M. S., & Spreen, O. (2006). Compendium of neuropsychological tests: Administration, norms, and commentary (3rd ed.p. 502). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Troyer, A. K. (2000). Normative data for clustering and switching on verbal fluency tasks. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 22, 370–378.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Troyer, A. K., Moscovitch, M., & Winocur, G. (1997). Clustering and switching as two components of verbal fluency: Evidence from younger and healthy adults. Neuropsychology, 11, 138–146.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Janet Patterson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG (outside the USA)

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Patterson, J. (2018). Controlled Oral Word Association Test. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_876

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics