This study investigated differences in Trail Making Test performance as a function of over-all level of neuropsychological impairment in a sample of elderly patients diagnosed as having various dementing diseases. Patients were classified as mildly, moderately, or severely impaired (ns = 19, 25, 26) based on the seven measures used to compute the Impairment Index of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery. The mean ages for the mildly, moderately, and severely impaired groups were 67.72, 71.56, and 71.16 yr., respectively. Using level of impairment as the grouping variable, subjects were compared on the mean number of seconds required to complete Trail Making Test A, B, and A + B. Three one-way analyses of variance indicated significant differences for Parts A, B, and A + B. As over-all level of impairment increased, time required to complete the Trail Making Test increased. Results are discussed and directions for further research are recommended.

This study investigated two short forms of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale‐Revised reported by Silverstein (1982). The short form IQs were calculated from test data of 42 geriatric patients with suspected dementia. The short form IQs were compared to the actual Full Scale IQs. Correlations between the two and four subtest short forms and the actual IQs were .93 and .96, respectively. In addition, the two subtest short forms correctly classified 67% of the sample on the basis of Wechsler's intelligence categories, and the four subtest short forms correctly classified 83% of the sample. It was concluded that these short forms should not be used when a precise IQ assessment is required; however, they may be useful for various screening purposes.

We investigated the sensitivity of the Bender (1938) Visual-Motor Gestalt Test (BGT) using the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery (HRB) as the criterion for cortical dysfunction. We studied 95 subjects over age 55 who had been diagnosed as having dementia or pseudodementia. Subjects were classified as mild, moderately, or severely impaired on the HRB and as impaired or unimpaired on the BGT. The results indicated that the BGT is less sensitive (36%) than was expected when used on an impaired geriatric population. The data further indicated that false negatives occurred more frequently with the BGT when individuals had mild neuropsychological impairment. Less frequent misclassifications occurred as the severity of impairment on HRB indices increased.