Objective The African Neuropsychology Battery (ANB) includes eight culturally appropriate cognitive tests developed for use in the Congo and other sub-Saharan African populations. The current study examines the reliability of the ANB in three samples of participants of African descent. Methods Subjects were recruited in the United States and the Congo to participate in three studies of ANB internal consistency reliability (Study 1), test–retest reliability (Study 2), and interrater reliability for the two ANB measures (i.e., Visuospatial Memory and Proverb Tests) requiring examiner ratings of response adequacy (Study 3). Subjects were administered ANB tests of visuospatial perception, language, memory, abstract reasoning, and problem solving. We calculated Cronbach’s alpha, corrected item-total correlations and mean inter-item correlations for internal consistency, Pearson product–moment correlations and intraclass correlation coefficients for test–retest reliability, and intraclass correlation coefficients for interrater reliability. Results The ANB tests had acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach’s alphas ranging from .37 to .93). Across subtests, test–retest reliability coefficients ranged from .39 to .91, and intraclass correlation stability coefficients (ICCs) ranged from .39 to .82. Of the two ANB tests requiring interrater reliability, only the Proverb Test had a low ICC of .13, (confidence intervals: −.29 to .52). Conclusion The present study demonstrated that most ANB tests show adequate reliability in participants of African descent. However, the scoring criteria of the African Proverb Test require revision in order to improve the interrater reliability of the measure.
While the findings provide partial support for our hypothesis regarding CR as a one-dimensional reflective construct, the results strongly suggest that the construct is more complex than what can be captured in a reflective model alone. There is a need for theory to better identify and differentiate formative from reflective indicators and to articulate the mechanisms by which CR develops and operates.
Objective To test a core assumption of the African Neuropsychology Battery (ANB) that greater African enculturation is associated with better performance. Method Subjects were 27 African immigrants to the U.S. [mean age = 39 (SD = 11.5), mean education = 16.3 years (SD = 2.9)], 32 African-Americans [mean age = 34.0 (SD = 11.2), mean education = 16.2 (SD = 2.5)], and 21 U.S. Caucasians [mean age = 45.7 (SD = 13.8), mean education = 17.2 (SD = 2.3)]. All subjects completed a questionnaire on familiarity with elements of African culture. The ANB was administered one-on-one, by trained technicians, in English, in a single session. ANB tests measured visuospatial perception, naming, memory, and abstract reasoning utilizing content drawn from sub-Saharan African cultures. Results Groups differed significantly in age (p < .05), but not education or gender, and age was used as a covariate in subsequent group comparisons. African immigrants showed highest African enculturation, followed by African Americans, and Caucasians [F(2, 74) = 36.16, p < .000], with all groups differing significantly from one another in post-hoc comparisons (p < .02). African enculturation correlated significantly only with ability to identify pictures of African fruits (Pearson r = .58, p < .001) and objects (r = .25, p < .03). Analysis of Covariance followed by Bonferroni post-hoc comparisons confirmed that African immigrants were superior to Caucasians (p < .001) and African-Americans (p < .001) in identifying fruits, with the latter two groups not differing significantly from one another. African immigrants were superior to Caucasians in object identification (p < .05), but did not differ significantly from African-Americans. Conclusions African enculturation influences performance on some ANB tests and results support the potential of the ANB to assess performance in a less culturally-biased manner in African immigrants.
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