Effects of minority status on facial recognition and naming performance

Found performances on two tests of higher cerebral function, a facial recognition test and a naming test in an aphasia examination, to be influenced differentially by minority status (N = 94). Performance on the facial recognition test was relatively free of racial bias for the purposes of clinical assessment, but this was not the case for visual naming. In fact, straightforward application of the standard criteria for the naming test would have resulted in classification of 22% of a sample of urban black control patients as defective. Revised normative standards are presented for use in this segment of the referral population.