A Normative Study on the Word Sequence Learning Test in Healthy Individuals in Taiwan
Date Issued
2014
Date
2014
Author(s)
Chen, Wei-Chia
Abstract
Background: The Word Sequence Learning Test (WSLT) is one of the verbal episodic memory measures, and is characterized by arbitrary associates among words. Processing this type of episode memory task is thought to be highly associated with the perirhinal cortex functioning. Studies have shown that the pathological change of the perirhinal cortex is one of the main features of the pre-Alzheimer’s disease (pre-AD). Accordingly, it would be expected that the impairment of arbitrary-associates verbal memory tests, such as the WSLT, would be evident in the pre-AD. However, currently there is a lack of normative data of the WSLT in Taiwan. Objective: The purpose of the present study was to establish the normative data of the WSLT in Taiwanese healthy adults. Issues of the effects of demographic variables and psychometric properties of the WSLT were also investigated. Methods: The study included 307 healthy participants stratifying by age (ranging from 16 to 90 years old), education level (ranging from 0 to 18 years), sex, and different geographical regions in Taiwan. Thirty participants were randomly selected for examining reliabilities. Thirty-three participants were also selected for examining the criterion-related and the construct validity. Forty patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) were also retrospectively collected for verifying the construct validity. Results: Effects of age and education can be found in the WSLT. The correct, the position, the learning, and the cued scores decreased as age increased. All sub-scores increased as education level increased. The correlation coefficient of the retest reliability was around 0.6 and the alternate-form reliability varied across different sub-scores (ranging from .14 to .73). Sub-scores of the WSLT correlated moderately (ranging from .35 to .75) with those of other verbal episodic memory measures, except for the recognition score. The patient study revealed that the proportion of memory deficits evident in patients with aMCI measured by the WSLT was higher than by the Logical Memory subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Third Edition. Conclusion: Age and education have an influence on the WSLT, and thus the demographic-corrected norm is needed. In addition, the WSLT has adequate reliability and validity. Based on the retrospective patient study, it appears that the test performance could be taken as a cognitive marker for AD. Further prospective study to validate this preliminary result is necessary.
Subjects
中文字詞次序學習測驗
神經心理測驗
事件記憶
常模研究
人口學變項
信效度
校正分數
Type
thesis
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Loading...
Name
ntu-103-R99227207-1.pdf
Size
23.54 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum
(MD5):51dbb1cfffffe5dd4dbaadc09c229984