Preliminary evidence for the Emotion Word Fluency Test as a unique semantic fluency measure

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• The Emotion Word Fluency Test (EWFT) assesses verbal fluency related to emotions.
• Previous research established EWFT's correlation with executive functions and mood scales.
• The role of Theory of Mind (ToM) in EWFT performance was previously unexamined.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the construct validity of the EWFT.
• To examine EWFT's relationship with verbal fluency and Theory of Mind.
• To determine if EWFT captures unique emotion-related cognitive processes.

Main Methods:

• 143 undergraduates completed the EWFT, Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System-Verbal Fluency tests (letter and category), Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales-21, Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, and Unexpected Outcomes Test.
• Correlational analyses were performed.
• Confirmatory factor analysis and multiple regression analyses were conducted.

Main Results:

• Correlations among EWFT, verbal fluency, and mood scales mirrored prior findings.
• Confirmatory factor analysis supported EWFT as both a verbal fluency and a Theory of Mind task.
• The Unexpected Outcomes Test significantly predicted EWFT scores, indicating unique emotion-related variance.

Conclusions:

• The EWFT demonstrates construct validity as a measure of verbal fluency and Theory of Mind.
• EWFT performance is influenced by the ability to understand others' emotions and intentions.
• Findings support EWFT's capacity to capture specific emotion-related cognitive components.