Date of Award

1997

Publication Type

Doctoral Thesis

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Psychology

Keywords

higher cerebral functions, cerebral impairment

Supervisor

D. Shore

Rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Abstract

The Barrow Neurological Screen for Higher Cerebral Functions (BNIS) was developed by Prigatano (1991) and his colleagues as a means of providing comprehensive information about higher cerebral functioning for a wide variety of neurological patients with known cerebral impairment. In the development of any psychometric instrument, it is critical to establish its reliability and validity. The purpose of this study is to explore the construct-related and the ecological validity of the BNIS in a patient sample independent of the original patient data gathered by Prigatano. The construct-related validity of the BNIS is explored through its relationship with various neuropsychological measures. Significant positive correlations were established between various neuropsychological measures and subscale items from the BNIS. Multiple regression analyses indicated that 17 percent of the variance in WAIS-R performance IQ scores was predictable from BNIS Visual Spatial/Visual Problem Solving subscale items, and 35 percent of the variance in WAIS-R Verbal IQ scores was predictable from BNIS Speech and Language subscale items. These relationships provide support for the construct-related validity of the BNIS.

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