Performance on the Boston Naming Test Among College-aged Hawaiʻi and North American Residents: A Multi-method Differential Item Functioning Analysis
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2023
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University of Hawaii at Manoa
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The Boston Naming Test (BNT) is frequently administered to elicit word-finding or confrontational naming difficulties—which are associated with a wide range of neurological disorders affecting both children and adults alike. Despite the BNT’s documented efficacy in distinguishing between disease-related impairments and typical age-related declines, several test items were identified as displaying differential item functioning (DIF) among Caucasian and African Americans living in the United States. The presence of DIF suggests that examinees of equivalent ability do not have the same probability of correctly answering a test question due to construct-irrelevant factors such as culture or geographic location. The present study adopted a multi-method approach to uncover DIF items between examinees based on geographic or regional experiences. The 60-item BNT was administered to a total of 285 college-aged Hawaiʻi and North American residents. DIF items were identified through observed score analysis utilizing the Mantel-Haenszel test, the Breslow-Day test, and an item parameter (Wald test) and model comparison (likelihood ratio test) approach under logistic regression. In addition, DIF was also identified through latent score analysis using item parameter (IRT Wald test) and model comparison (IRT likelihood ratio test) approaches under an item response theory framework. Results from all methods converged on four BNT items (compass, scroll, tripod, and abacus). Uniform DIF was detected on three items (compass, scroll, and abacus) where Hawaiʻi residents possessed a consistent and significant advantage over North American residents. Nonuniform DIF was detected on the test item, tripod, where North American residents were significantly favored until the advantage switched at higher levels of naming ability. These results suggest that at least four items on the BNT functioned differently between college-aged examinees of equal naming ability but differed in cultural and geographic experiences. Thus, clinicians should be aware that those items should be interpreted with caution. The results also suggest further refinement of the BNT, such as replacing identified DIF items, and utilization of the reported item-level psychometric information to select items for future editions. Specific suggestions for test refinement, implications for researchers and clinicians, limitations of this study, and future directions are further discussed.
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Educational psychology, Psychology
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