Date of Award

2015

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Graduate Department of Clinical Psychology

First Advisor

Celeste Flaschbart

Abstract

Many instruments have been developed to assess human visual memory functioning, though little research has been done to identify interrelationships among current visual memory measures with each other. The present study explores concurrent validity of the following visual memory tasks: Wechsler Memory Scale - IV (WMS-IV) Visual Reproductions I & II and Designs I & II subtests, the Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning, Second edition (WRAML2) Picture Memory and Design Memory subtests, the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test, Revised (BVMT-R), and the Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT). Two age groups (18-25 and 65- 79) of healthy adults were used to approximate the polar ends of adulthood. Findings demonstrated that the WRAML2 Picture Memory subtest stood apart from the others as a distinctive measure, exhibiting weak correlations with visual memory measures as well as with processing speed (WAIS-IV Coding) and verbal memory (WRAML2 Verbal Learning), regardless of age group measured. In addition, the BVMT-R highlighted significant differences between younger adult performance (compared to same-aged peers) and older adult performance (compared to same-aged peers), suggesting it may be a tool that is more sensitive to decline than other visual memory measures. Results suggest these two measures to be a prudent addition to any neuropsychological battery for their unique contribution.

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