Benton Revised Visual Retention Test Research Articles

Dissociation between Inattentiveness during Mental Status Testing and Social Inattentiveness in the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms Attention Subscale

The Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) attention subscale has been found valid and reliable by some studies; however, there is some evidence to the contrary. We hypothesized that social inattentiveness (SANS 22) and inattentiveness during mental status testing (SANS 23) might be describing discrete constructs, and this dissociation might be a source of controversy. Thirty-five patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia were assessed by the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS), SANS and a neuropsychological battery. The 2 attention items were not significantly interrelated. SANS 22 was correlated with bizarre behavior and alogia, and none of the neuropsychological test scores, whereas SANS 23 showed strong correlations with the Wechsler Memory Scale mental control subscore, total errors on the Benton Revised Visual Retention Test, and the information, similarities and the general verbal subscores on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Regression analyses showed that SANS 23 could be a good estimate of general verbal abilities. These findings point to a dissociation between the 2 SANS attention items. Similar analyses should be repeated in larger and heterogeneous samples and include a factor analysis of the individual items rather than the global ratings.

Part I: the effect of long-term exposure to organic solvents on memory: a cross sectional study

This study focuses on a wide range of different aspects of memory functions trying to ascertain a possible profile of memory changes, which take place following long-term exposure to organic solvents. The research design was cross-sectional. Study population included 31 industrial painters who were exposed at work to organic solvents and 31 unexposed workers. Workers after long-term exposure to organic solvents showed significant decline in memory as indicated in all three standard memory tests (i.e. Wechsler Memory Scale - Revised, Benton Revised Visual Retention Test, and Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test). The results of Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test showed a negative correlation with exposure index indicating that the more intensive and longer the time of exposure was, the more impaired is the verbal memory. It was also found that the affect of age on memory was stronger among workers after long-term exposure to organic solvents compared to the unexposed workers.

Cognitive and Neuropsychological Characteristics of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Children Receiving Stimulant Medications

10 children receiving stimulant medication for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder were compared to normal children on cognitive and neuropsychological dimensions in a pilot study. When compared with 10 normal children the ADHD children showed significant differences on cognitive measures, including the Wechsler Developmental Index, the Bender Visual-motor Gestalt Test, and the Benton Revised Visual Retention Test. Elevated levels of polyspike EEG activity were also noted for these children. Analysis suggested that ADHD children receiving stimulant medications may have persisting neuropsychological difficulty. Further research on the neuropsychological correlates of ADHD seems warranted.

Use of the Revised Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration with chronic mentally ill adult population.

From the Nova University Geriatric Institute, for 30 outpatients ranging in age from 55 to 80 years old, significant moderate Pearson correlations (.40 to .54) obtained between the raw scores of the Revised Developmental Test of Visual-motor Integration standardized for children ages 2 1/2 years through 19 years and the WAIS-R subscale IQs. Further, scores on the Recall administration of the Benton Revised Visual Retention Test were significantly correlated with the performance on Beery's developmental test. Also, scores on Beery's test were correlated with estimates of adaptive functioning made by the staff for each patient.

Individual-differences assessment of the relationship between change in and initial level of adult cognitive functioning.

Methodological factors may have been partially responsible for the inconsistency in findings from previous investigations into the relationship between change in, and initial level of, adult cognitive functioning. An alternative data-analytic procedure is proposed and applied to data from 277 men (25-76 years of age at initial testing) over 3 measurement occasions (interwave intervals of 6.7 years). Performances on both the Benton Revised Visual Retention Test (BVRT) and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) Vocabulary subtest were analyzed. The findings demonstrate that the significant negative relationships between change and initial status, found on both tests, were partially a function of measurement error. Once adjustments were made for errors of measurement, the previously significant negative relationship for the BVRT data became significantly positive, whereas for the WAIS the relationship remained significantly negative, although to a lesser degree. The importance of accounting for errors of measurement is discussed.

The effect of magnetic resonance imaging on human cognition

Potential effects of MRI exposure on aspects of human cognition were investigated out of concern that possible safety hazards associated with the procedure may exist. One hundred and fifty-seven volunteer subjects were randomly assigned to either an imaged, sham-imaged or nonimaged control condition. The following psychological tests were administered in a double blind procedure at pretreatment, post-treatment and follow-up time periods: the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (Digit Span, Block Design and Digit Symbol), the Wechsler Memory Scale Paired Associate Learning test, the Benton Revised Visual Retention test, the Vandenberg Mental Rotation test, the Sternberg memory scanning paradigm and the State Anxiety Inventory. The overall analysis of results indicated that MRI at 0.15 T has no significant effect upon the cognitive functions assessed.

Benton Revised Visual Retention Test Performance of Black Adolescents According to Age, Sex, and Ethnic Identity

As part of a battery, the Benton Revised Visual Retention Test was individually administered to 100 black adolescent students in southeastern Virginia, aged 12 or 13 yr. The Benton test, Form C, Administrations A and C were scored for both Total Errors and Total Number Correct. A multivariate analysis of variance indicated no significant differences between ages, but there were differences between boys' and girls' scores. There were two significant interactions for age, sex, and measured ethnic identity on Administration C for Total Number Correct and Total Errors for the group. Administration A, scored for categorical errors, produced significant univariate F ratios for Total Errors, Distortion, and Total Right Errors on the classification of ethnic identity. Alternative interpretations are feasible, and further research into the influences of experimental and cultural variables on visual perception is needed.

Human brain glucose utilization and cognitive function in relation to age.

Brain oxidative metabolism was examined with positron emission tomography and [18F]2-deoxy-D-glucose in 40 healthy men aged 21 to 83 years, under conditions of reduced visual and auditory stimulation. The mean cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (CMRglc) equaled 4.6 to 4.7 mg X 100 gm-1 X min-1 and did not correlate significantly with age (p greater than 0.05). Regional cerebral metabolic rates for glucose (rCMRglc) and Q ratios (rCMRglc/CMRglc), which had lower coefficients of variation than did rCMRglc, also did not correlate with age. Hyperfrontality of cerebral metabolism was absent at all ages. Age decrements were demonstrated in the error score on the Benton Revised Visual Retention Test and in the Performance Subtest scaled score of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) but not in the Verbal Subtest scaled score of the WAIS. The cognitive test scores did not correlate with brain metabolic rates. The results indicate that brain oxidative metabolism, when measured under resting conditions with reduced sensory input, is not reduced in relation to age in healthy men. Furthermore, no significant relations between intelligence and resting cerebral metabolism are evident.

Do These Co-Twins Really Live Together? An Assessment of the Validity of the Home Index as a Measure of Family Socio-Economic Status1

In a study of 400 pairs of same-sex twins, ages 10-16, in the Philadelphia area, the Home Index was used as a measure of SES. Because there were numerous disagreements between co-twins, analyses were done of each item. The Home Index was then rescored using only the 10 items that reached a criterion level of 75% twin agreement. Two scoring methods were used on the 10-item Home Index: one treating "don't know" as equivalent to a blank (yes = 2, no = 1, don't know = 0) and the other being a variation on that scoring method by giving additional weight to "don't know" responses (yes = 2, no = 0, don't know = 1). By correlating the three scorings (the original scoring of 24 items and the two scorings of 10 items) of the Home Index with each other, with census tract data, and with five cognitive measures used in the study (Raven Standard Progressive Matrices, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Columbia Mental Maturity Scale, Benton Revised Visual Retention Test, and a Paired-Associate Test), it was determined that the original Home Index was a more valid measure for white subjects than for black subjects. It could not, however, be recommended as a highly valid measure of SES in either group.