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The Clinical Neuropsychologist Apr 2021Although cohort effects on IQ measures have been investigated extensively, studies exploring cohort differences on verbal memory tests, and the extent to which they are...
OBJECTIVE
Although cohort effects on IQ measures have been investigated extensively, studies exploring cohort differences on verbal memory tests, and the extent to which they are influenced by socioenvironmental changes across decades (e.g. educational attainment; ethnic makeup), have been limited.
METHOD
We examined differences in performance between the normative samples of the CVLT-II from 1999 and the CVLT3 from 2016 to 2017 on the immediate- and delayed-recall trials, and we explored the degree to which verbal learning and memory skills might be influenced by the cohort year in which norms were collected versus demographic factors (e.g. education level).
RESULTS
Multivariate analysis of variance tests and follow-up univariate tests yielded evidence for a cohort effect (also referred to as negative Flynn effect) on performance, controlling for demographic factors ( = .001). In particular, findings revealed evidence of a negative Flynn effect on the attention/working memory and learning trials (Trial 1, Trial 2, Trial 3, Trials 1-5 Total, List B; s < .007), with no significant cohort differences found on the delayed-recall trials. As expected, education level, age group, and ethnicity were significant predictors of CVLT performance (s < .01). Importantly, however, there were no interactions between cohort year of norms collection and education level, age group, or ethnicity on performance.
CONCLUSIONS
The clinical implications of the present findings for using word list learning and memory tests like the CVLT, and the potential role of socioenvironmental factors on the observed negative Flynn effect on the attention/working memory and learning trials, are discussed.
Topics: Attention; Humans; Memory, Short-Term; Mental Recall; Neuropsychological Tests; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 31829090
DOI: 10.1080/13854046.2019.1699605 -
The Clinical Neuropsychologist Dec 2020Cultural adaptations of verbal serial list-learning tests such as the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) and the Philadelphia (repeatable) Verbal Learning Test...
The development, validation and normative data study of the English in Ireland adaption of the Philadelphia repeatable Verbal Learning Test (EirPrVLT-12) for use in an older adult population.
Cultural adaptations of verbal serial list-learning tests such as the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) and the Philadelphia (repeatable) Verbal Learning Test (P(r)VLT) have been shown to be clinically necessary. This paper aimed to culturally adapt, validate and provide normative data for an English in Ireland adaptation of the P(r)VLT, i.e. the EirPrVLT-12, in order to improve episodic memory assessments for Irish adults. EirPrVLT-12 word lists were constructed using a word frequency study of Irish adults ( = 58). Two twelve-word, four-trial forms were constructed (standard and alternate form). A normative study included 145 participants who met strict inclusion criteria. EirPrVLT-12 performance varied depending on age, gender, education, estimated IQ and socioeconomic status. Construct validity was established by correlations with other cognitive tests. Principal component analysis yielded a three-factor solution relating to general verbal learning, intrusions and interference. Normed EirPrVLT-12 scaled scores and percentiles stratified by age are available on the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/vjzsp/, as are regression equations to predict individual scores based on age, gender and education. The data obtained underscores the clinical ultility of the EirPrVLT-12 to assess episodic memory in Irish older adults. Future research was recommended to validate the EirPrVLT-12 in a clinical population, extend normative data to younger populations and develop norms for the alternate form.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data Analysis; Educational Status; Female; Humans; Ireland; Male; Middle Aged; Neuropsychological Tests; Reproducibility of Results; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 32924790
DOI: 10.1080/13854046.2020.1815854 -
Clinical Endocrinology Oct 2014The aim of this study was to examine the effects of testosterone on verbal learning and memory in postmenopausal women. (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of testosterone on verbal learning and memory in postmenopausal women.
DESIGN
Randomized, placebo-controlled trial in which participants were randomized (1:1) to transdermal testosterone gel 300 mcg/day, or identical placebo, for 26 weeks.
PATIENTS
Ninety-two postmenopausal women aged 55-65 years, on no systemic sex hormone therapy.
MEASUREMENTS
The primary outcome was the score for the International Shopping List Task (ISLT) of CogState. Secondary outcomes included other CogState domains, the Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWB) and safety variables.
RESULTS
Eighty-nine women, median age 60 years, were included in the primary analysis. Testosterone treatment resulted in statistically significantly better performance for the ISLT (improved verbal learning and memory) compared with placebo, adjusted for age and baseline score (mean difference 1·57; 95%CI 0·13, 3·01) P = 0·03). There were no significant differences for other CogState domains or the PGWB scores. At 26 weeks, the median total testosterone was 1·7 nm (interquartile range (IQR) 1·1, 2·4) in the testosterone group and 0·4 nm (IQR 0·3, 0·5) in the placebo group.
CONCLUSIONS
The small but statistically significant effect of testosterone treatment on verbal learning and memory in postmenopausal women provides the basis for further clinical trials.
Topics: Administration, Cutaneous; Aged; Estrogen Replacement Therapy; Female; Humans; Memory; Middle Aged; Postmenopause; Testosterone; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 24716847
DOI: 10.1111/cen.12459 -
Journal of Clinical and Experimental... Mar 2022The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) is the third most popular verbal memory test and the tenth most frequently used neuropsychological test. The original...
BACKGROUND
The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) is the third most popular verbal memory test and the tenth most frequently used neuropsychological test. The original scoring system of RAVLT does not differentiate stages of memory processing, but a recently developed composite scoring system has this potential. The objectives were to compare the two systems in terms of their capacity to differentiate the stages of memory processing and to study the effect of demographic variables on the learning trials (T) of the Turkish form of RAVLT (T-RAVLT).
METHOD
The sample consisted of 600 Caucasian Turkic adults, who were categorized into three levels of age, three levels of education, and two levels of gender. Individual administration of T-RAVLT was performed using the standard procedures of RAVLT.
RESULTS
The components in the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and latent variables in the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the original scores were consistent with sequentially ordered T-RAVLT stages. Demographic variables (age, education, and gender) affected performances in all of the learning trials. The composite scores revealed retrieval and retention as separate components, but these scores could not be predicted from the relevant T-RAVLT scores.
CONCLUSIONS
Findings recommend a combined utilization of the two scoring systems: The original system to provide scores on the performance at each stage of T-RAVLT and the combined system to provide separate scores on learning, retention, and retrieval, the three stages of memory processing. A selective effect of demographic variables on T1 was not observed, indicating a need for cross-cultural studies that are meticulously controlled for age and education.
Topics: Adult; Demography; Humans; Memory; Memory and Learning Tests; Neuropsychological Tests; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 35670663
DOI: 10.1080/13803395.2022.2080186 -
Cognitive Research: Principles and... Dec 2021The spacing effect refers to the improvement in memory retention for materials learned in a series of sessions, as opposed to massing learning in a single session. It...
The spacing effect refers to the improvement in memory retention for materials learned in a series of sessions, as opposed to massing learning in a single session. It has been extensively studied in the domain of verbal learning using word lists. Less evidence is available for connected discourse or tasks requiring the complex coordination of verbal and other domains. In particular, the effect of spacing on the retention of words and music in song has yet to be determined. In this study, university students were taught an unaccompanied two-verse song based on traditional materials to a criterion of 95% correct memory for sung words. Subsequent training sessions were either massed or spaced by two days or one week and tested at a retention interval of three weeks. Performances were evaluated for number of correct and incorrect syllables, number of correctly and incorrectly pitched notes, degree notes were off-pitch, and number of hesitations while singing. The data revealed strong evidence for a spacing effect for song between the massed and spaced conditions at a retention interval of three weeks, and evidence of no difference between the two spaced conditions. These findings suggest that the ongoing cues offered by surface features in the song are strong enough to enable verbatim recall across spaced conditions, as long as the spacing interval reaches a critical threshold.
Topics: Cues; Humans; Learning; Memory; Mental Recall; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 34894323
DOI: 10.1186/s41235-021-00345-7 -
Scientific Reports Apr 2021Physical exercise during adolescence, a critical developmental window, can facilitate neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus and astrogliogenesis in Cornu Ammonis...
Physical exercise during adolescence, a critical developmental window, can facilitate neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus and astrogliogenesis in Cornu Ammonis (CA) hippocampal subfields of rats, and which have been associated with improved hippocampal dependent memory performance. Recent translational studies in humans also suggest that aerobic fitness is associated with hippocampal volume and better spatial memory during adolescence. However, associations between fitness, hippocampal subfield morphology, and learning capabilities in human adolescents remain largely unknown. Employing a translational study design in 34 adolescent males, we explored the relationship between aerobic fitness, hippocampal subfield volumes, and both spatial and verbal memory. Aerobic fitness, assessed by peak oxygen utilization on a high-intensity exercise test (VO peak), was positively associated with the volumetric enlargement of the hippocampal head, and the CA1 head region specifically. Larger CA1 volumes were also associated with spatial learning on a Virtual Morris Water Maze task and verbal learning on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, but not recall memory. In line with previous animal work, the current findings lend support for the long-axis specialization of the hippocampus in the areas of exercise and learning during adolescence.
Topics: Adolescent; CA1 Region, Hippocampal; Cardiorespiratory Fitness; Exercise Test; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Oxygen Consumption; Spatial Learning; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 33927247
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-88452-9 -
Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology :... Jan 2020This study was conducted to investigate how items contained within the California Verbal Learning Test - Second Edition (CVLT-II; Delis, D. C., Kramer, J. H., Kaplan,...
OBJECTIVE
This study was conducted to investigate how items contained within the California Verbal Learning Test - Second Edition (CVLT-II; Delis, D. C., Kramer, J. H., Kaplan, E., & Ober, B. A. (2000). California Verbal Learning Test (2nd ed.). San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation) learning trials function and to evaluate whether weighted scoring approaches might improve quantification of verbal memory.
METHOD
Archival data from 577 individuals (338 healthy young adults, 239 medical or psychiatric patients referred to a neuropsychology clinic) were obtained and evaluated using item response theory.
RESULTS
The serial position effect was evident across trials, but was most evident in Trials 1, 2, and 3. CVLT-II Trial 5 was the most effective among the five learning trials in quantifying verbal memory, although it was most effective when measuring lower memory ability levels. In contrast, CVLT-II Trial 1 items had, on average, the highest difficulty levels. Various weighted scoring approaches did not appear incrementally helpful in improving prediction of memory performance.
CONCLUSION
Specific items and trials differentially discriminate between examinees with low levels of memory ability; it is important to thoroughly evaluate item properties of tests used in clinical decision-making.
Topics: Adult; Female; Humans; Male; Memory; Memory and Learning Tests; Middle Aged; Psychometrics; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 30615062
DOI: 10.1093/arclin/acy097 -
International Journal of... Jan 2016Both electrical brain activity during rest and memory functions change across the lifespan. Moreover, electrical brain activity is associated with memory functions....
Both electrical brain activity during rest and memory functions change across the lifespan. Moreover, electrical brain activity is associated with memory functions. However, the interplay between all these effects has been investigated only scarcely. The present study investigated the extent to which the power of resting-state electroencephalographic (EEG) frequencies mediates the impact of aging on verbal and visuospatial memory. Seventy healthy participants with 22 to 83years of age completed a visuospatial and verbal learning and memory test and provided eyes-open and eyes-closed resting-state EEG data. Robust age-related effects on behavioral and EEG data were observed. Mediation analyses showed that the relative power of the theta (4-8Hz) frequency band in fronto-central locations partly explained the negative age-related effect on delayed recall in the verbal memory task. The relative power of the alpha II (10-12Hz) frequency band in mainly parietal locations partly explained the negative impact of age on immediate and delayed recall in the visuospatial task. Results indicate that spontaneous brain activity carries specific information about aging processes and predicts the level of competence in verbal and visuospatial memory tasks.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Alpha Rhythm; Female; Humans; Male; Memory; Middle Aged; Photic Stimulation; Reading; Rest; Spatial Memory; Theta Rhythm; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 26578354
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2015.11.004 -
The British Journal of Clinical... Jun 2018Neuropsychological assessment requires accurate estimation of an individual's premorbid cognitive abilities. Oral word reading tests, such as the test of premorbid...
OBJECTIVES
Neuropsychological assessment requires accurate estimation of an individual's premorbid cognitive abilities. Oral word reading tests, such as the test of premorbid functioning (TOPF), and demographic variables, such as age, sex, and level of education, provide a reasonable indication of premorbid intelligence, but their ability to predict other related cognitive abilities is less well understood. This study aimed to develop regression equations, based on the TOPF and demographic variables, to predict scores on tests of verbal fluency and naming ability.
METHODS
A sample of 119 healthy adults provided demographic information and were tested using the TOPF, FAS, animal naming test (ANT), and graded naming test (GNT). Multiple regression analyses, using the TOPF and demographics as predictor variables, were used to estimate verbal fluency and naming ability test scores. Change scores and cases of significant impairment were calculated for two clinical samples with diagnosed neurological conditions (TBI and meningioma) using the method in Knight, McMahon, Green, and Skeaff ().
RESULTS
Demographic variables provided a significant contribution to the prediction of all verbal fluency and naming ability test scores; however, adding TOPF score to the equation considerably improved prediction beyond that afforded by demographic variables alone. The percentage of variance accounted for by demographic variables and/or TOPF score varied from 19 per cent (FAS), 28 per cent (ANT), and 41 per cent (GNT). Change scores revealed significant differences in performance in the clinical groups, particularity the TBI group.
CONCLUSIONS
Demographic variables, particularly education level, and scores on the TOPF should be taken into consideration when interpreting performance on tests of verbal fluency and naming ability.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Demography; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Neuropsychological Tests; Regression Analysis; United Kingdom; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 29210077
DOI: 10.1111/bjc.12166 -
Neuropsychology Feb 2019Wernicke's area is a key component of the cortical language network, and it is functionally related to the comprehension of oral and written language. In addition to its...
BACKGROUND
Wernicke's area is a key component of the cortical language network, and it is functionally related to the comprehension of oral and written language. In addition to its main role in the perception of language, some other functions related to verbal learning also seem to involve the activity of this cortical region. It is unknown whether different degrees of neuromodulation on this area determine its effect on word learning.
OBJECTIVE
We aimed to analyze the influence of the application of anodal transcranial DC stimulation (tDCS) over Wernicke's area at two different intensities on word learning.
METHOD
We compared the effect of anodal tDCS at an intensity of 0.5 mA and 1.5 mA with sham tDCS, separately in different groups, on performance in a word learning and recall task.
RESULTS
The results show that 1.5 mA anodal tDCS improved performance. The number of words learned in this condition was higher compared with stimulation at 0.5 mA current strength and sham stimulation. Furthermore, stimulation with 1.5 mA specifically prevented the interference effect over word learning, compared to the other two tDCS conditions.
CONCLUSIONS
These results show an intensity-dependent effect of anodal tDCS on verbal memory formation. These findings are discussed in the context of the various functions of Wernicke's area and the ability of tDCS to modulate the activity and functionality of this cortical area at different intensities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Comprehension; Female; Humans; Language; Male; Mental Recall; Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation; Verbal Learning; Vocabulary; Wernicke Area; Young Adult
PubMed: 30667248
DOI: 10.1037/neu0000514