Date of Award

2005

Publication Type

Doctoral Thesis

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Psychology

Keywords

Psychology, Clinical.

Rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Abstract

Objective. The Short Form of the California Verbal Learning Test - Second Edition (CVLT-II SF) is used to screen ability to learn and recall verbal information. The objective of the current study is to examine psychometric properties of the CVLT-II SF in an inpatient stroke rehabilitation sample, with a focus on this tool's ability to differentiate between performances of three groups of individuals with stroke. Participants and methods. Archival data from 75 admissions for inpatient stroke rehabilitation are included in the study. Cronbach's alpha and the Spearman-Brown split-half method are used to examine internal consistency of the learning trials, and a Kuder-Richardson technique is used to analyze the internal consistency of items from the recognition trial. Validity is examined by analyzing correlations between selected CVLT-II SF variables with convergent measures (i.e., tests of attention and memory for verbal information) and discriminant measures (i.e., tests of visuospatial discrimination, verbal abstraction, and cognitive set-shifting). A discriminant function analysis, using seven CVLT-II SF variables, is used to predict membership in three stroke groups: (1) left cortical, (2) right cortical, and (3) subcortical. Predictors include measures of attention span, general verbal learning, delayed recall, recency effect, semantic clustering, recognition discriminability, and recall/recognition contrast. Results and conclusions. Internal consistency of the learning trials and items from the recognition trial are judged to be adequate. Validity, based on correlations between the CVLT-II SF and other neuropsychological tests, suggests that the CVLT-II SF assesses attention and memory for verbal information, though may not be a pure measure of these cognitive domains. The discriminant function analysis significantly differentiates the stroke groups, with a classification procedure correctly classifying over 70% of cases. Individuals with left cortical stroke are well-differentiated from individuals with right cortical stroke and subcortical stroke on the CVLT-II SF, with the left cortical stroke group performing poorer than the other two groups. Measures of attention (Trial 1) and immediate recall (Total of Trials 1 to 4) best differentiate the groups, whereas measures theoretically associated with retrieval of encoded information (i.e., semantic clustering and recall/recognition contrast) do not appear meaningfully related to the discriminant function.Dept. of Psychology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2005 .T365. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 66-11, Section: B, page: 6297. Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2005.

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