The inability to recognize familiar objects is called what?

• A. Aphasia
• B. Anomia
• C. Agnosia
• D. Apraxia

Answer: (C)

This item tests agnosia, a deficit in recognizing or identifying objects despite having basic sensory perception intact. In agnosia, the brain’s perceptual processing is disrupted in a way that prevents matching what is seen to stored knowledge about the object’s meaning. For familiar objects, this means you can see features like shape and color but you can’t assign the correct identity or name from vision alone. This stands in contrast to other disorders: aphasia and anomia are language-related problems, with aphasia affecting understanding or producing language and anomia specifically impairing the ability to recall or name objects; apraxia is a problem with planning or executing voluntary movements, not recognizing objects. Thus, the inability to recognize familiar objects points to agnosia.