Naming Flashcards
7 cards from real MOCA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Naming flashcards as text
In the MoCA Naming task, what is the primary cognitive domain being assessed when a patient labels pictures of animals?
Answer: Language and lexical retrieval
The Naming task specifically targets language function and the ability to retrieve words from long-term semantic memory.
A patient correctly identifies the lion and camel on the MoCA but calls the rhinoceros a 'hippo.' How should this be scored?
Answer: 2 out of 3 points
Each animal is scored independently, so two correct responses earn 2 points even if one is wrong.
Which neurological condition most commonly produces anomia (inability to name objects) that would impair MoCA Naming performance?
Answer: Aphasia due to left hemisphere lesion
Anomia is most often caused by lesions in left-hemisphere language areas, such as those seen in aphasic syndromes.
If a patient says 'that big animal with the horn' instead of 'rhinoceros,' how should the MoCA administrator respond?
Answer: Mark it incorrect immediately
The MoCA requires the exact name; circumlocutions (descriptions) do not earn credit and no additional prompting is specified in the standard protocol.
Why are low-frequency, less common animals like the rhinoceros and camel chosen for the MoCA Naming task rather than common animals like a dog?
Answer: To increase sensitivity for detecting mild naming deficits
Less common animals require more precise lexical retrieval, making the task sensitive to mild word-finding difficulties that a simple, high-frequency item might miss.
A 78-year-old scores 2/3 on MoCA Naming. Which finding would most help distinguish a language disorder from a visual agnosia?
Answer: The patient can describe the animal's features but not name it
Intact feature description with failed naming suggests anomia (language deficit), while failure to recognize features at all suggests visual agnosia.
Which score on the MoCA Naming subtest (out of 3) is considered a perfect performance?
Answer: 3
A perfect score on the three-item Naming subtest is 3 points, one for each correctly named animal.