Flemish Normative Data on Common Neuropsychological Tests: Influence of Age, Education, and Gender

Abstract

Normative data on a large, neurologically intact, non psychiatric sample of 200 adult Flemish subjects (male=106, female=94) are presented according to age, education, and gender. The neuropsychological test battery included the Bourdon Wiersma Dot Cancellation, the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT). the Stroup Color-Word Test(SCWT), the Trail Making Test (TMT), the Rey or Taylor Complex Figure Test, version A or B of the Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT), version F or G of the Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT), and the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT). Stepwise linear regression analyses reveal a significant effect of education on all measures except Dot Cancellation and an interference score of the SCWT. Age contributed significantly to performance on memory tests and timed tests. Gender only accounted for a proportion of the variance in the copy score of the Taylor Complex Figure, the delayed recall score of the Rey Complex Figure, and the results of the AVLT. The two alternate versions of the AVLT are interchangeable. The Rey and Taylor Complex Figures are not of equivalent difficulty and differentially influenced by demographic factors, as well as versions F and G of the BVRT.