Development of an alternative scoring system for the Visual Reproduction subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised

The Visual Reproduction subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised has been widely used as a measure of memory. However, there are a number of limitations with the administration, scoring and interpretation of the subtest. A revised scoring system was developed in this study in order to address some of the deficiencies in the original scoring system. The revised scoring system was found to have very good reliability and this reliability was at least equal to that found for the original scoring system. There was also a high correlation between the two scoring systems, indicating that both systems generated a similar grading of memory performance in an elderly sample. However, further research is needed to extend the psychometric information available and to develop a normative base. An Index of non-verbal memory performance was also derived from the revised scoring system in order to provide an indicator of deficient non-verbal memory. This Index was able to discriminate between persons with left and right hemisphere lateralised lesions and therefore has the potential to provide a diagnostic indicator of non-verbal memory dysfunction. Although further research is needed in order to validate this Index in other samples, this approach provides an alternative to the development of new "nonverbal" memory tests. In order to extend the clinical information available from the Visual Reproduction Subtest, cueing, recognition, and perceptual match procedures were also developed and standardised. The results obtained with these measures indicated that a number of individuals were able to recall substantially more information than was found using free recall procedures. Further research is needed in order to obtain normative information about performance on these tasks in normal and clinical populations.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

phd

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Victoria University of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2000

Author dc:creator

• Clark, Therese

• 1701 Psychology
• School of Social Sciences and Psychology

Language dc:language

en