Aurelio Prifitera

Rey auditory-verbal learning test performance of patients with and without memory impairment

Investigated performance on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) of 92 psychiatric and neurological patients classified as memory-impaired (N = 45) or non-memory-impaired (N = 47). The groups were comparable on age and education. Relative to the non-memory-impaired Ss, performance of the memory-impaired patients was significantly lower on all AVLT scores, ps less than .01. The AVLT appears to hold promise as a quick screening measure for the clinical evaluation of patients with suspected verbal learning and memory impairments.

Validity of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) in a psychiatric sample.

Investigated the validity of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) in a psychiatric sample. Fifty psychiatric patients were given the NPI as part of a routine psychological evaluation. Correlations between the NPI and the basic personality style scales of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) were obtained; the largest correlation was between the NPI and the narcissism scale of the MCMI (r = .66, p less than .001). When classified into the low and high narcissistic groups, there was 74% agreement between the NPI and narcissistic scale of the MCMI. These results provide further support for the construct validity of the NPI.

Inter-subtest scatter in the WAIS-R standardization sample

To be able to evaluate the possible diagnostic significance of the magnitude of subtest-to-subtest scatter on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised (WAIS-R), it is important to know the frequency of various levels of scatter in the general population. To provide this information, the magnitude of scatter across all 11 subtests, and across the subtests of the Verbal and Performance scales, was computed for each of the 1,880 individuals used in the WAIS-R standardization. The range (difference between highest and lowest subtest scaled scores) was found to be an effective measure of scatter when compared with other, more complex indices. Scaled score scatter, which ranged from 2 to 16 points on the Full Scale, averaged 6.7 points for the Full Scale and 4.7 points each for the Verbal and Performance scales. Scatter had little relationship to age, sex, race, and years of education completed. However, the average amount of scatter increased substantially with IQ level. Normative tables for interpreting scatter are provided, and implications of these findings for the practitioner, especially in neuropsychology, are discussed.

Interrelationships Between and Factor Structures of the Wais-R and Wais in a Neuropsychological Battery

We investigated whether the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) demonstrate similar patterns of relationship with the Halstead-Reitan Battery (HRB). Fifty VA Medical Center patients were administered the WAIS-R and HRB and 50 completed the WAIS and HRB. The groups were comparable in terms of demographic variables. Pearson correlations were computed between the subtest and IQ scores from the Wechsler Scale and scores from the HRB for each group. A comparison of the 140 correlations for the WAIS-R with those for the WAIS showed no significant differences, indicating that the WAIS-R and WAIS variables covary in a similar manner with the HRB scores. A factor analysis was performed for the two groups separately. Coefficients of congruence indicated a high degree of similarity between the two factor solutions. Clinicians may expect the same relationships to emerge between the Wechsler variables and the HRB regardless of which scale is administered.

IQ^memory discrepancies in normal and clinical samples.

The potential utility of IQ-Memory Index discrepancy scores derived from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) and the Wechsler memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R) was examined in a clinical sample, whose scores were then compared to those of subjects from the WMS-R standardization sample. The clinical sample included patients with diagnoses associated with memory deficits