The development of a scoring system for an alternative form of the Visual Reproduction subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale - revised

The Visual Reproduction subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale – Revised has been widely used in neuropsychological assessment as a measure of visual memory since its publication in 1987 by Wechsler. Mindful of practice effects in serial assessment, a potential limiting factor in assessing recovery or decline with this subtest is the absence of an alternative form. This study aimed to develop an alternative form and a scoring system for this form. The scoring system was modelled on a revised scoring system for the original version developed by Clark (2000). Additional procedures, namely a cued recall and recognition format, were included in the administration to improve the diagnostic utility of the subtest. Evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Alternative Form, based on the administration of both versions to an unselected adult non-clinical population (n = 44, aged 25-51) revealed high internal reliability, good convergent validity and satisfactory discriminant validity with other verbal and visual memory tests. Moreover, there was a good correlation between the Alternative Form and the Visual Reproduction subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale – Revised, taking into account the test-retest reliability of the original version. Hence, this Alternative Form has the potential to be a useful addition to clinical practice with further refinement of the scoring criteria and development of normative data via administration to a larger sample that has a wider age range and intelligence.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

other

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Victoria University

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Petrov, Daniela

• 380000 Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences
• School of Social Sciences and Psychology

Language dc:language

en