A review of the performance of aged adults on various Wechsler Memory Scale Subtests

Abstract

The literature reveals that few studies have reported the performance of aged, normal adults on various Wechsler Memory Scale subtests. A marked decline in performance on the Visual Reproduction subtest was observed with increasing age. Both level of education and intelligence seemed to exert a substantial influence on performance on all three subtests reviewed.

A comparison of Turkish and Anglo-American normative data on the Wechsler memory scale

“…formance on a test like the WMS. This has already been noted, for example, byBak and Greene (1981) in their review of the performance of elderly Americans on the WMS.But the main point of the present paper is to emphasize that because of different sociodemographic conditions between industrialized and industrializing countries, age variation has been accorded major significance in cogitive test performance interpretation for the non-Western world. It will be necessary to consider correction factors for education rather than for age in evaluating WMS performance in Turkish adult samples.…”

“…This has already been noted, for example, by Bak and Greene (1981) in their review of the performance of elderly Americans on the WMS.…”

Symbol–digit substitution and individual differences in visual search ability

“…One of the more widely investigated tests is the Digit-Symbol Substitution test, a standard subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). A performance decline on the digitsymbol is a well-documented correlate of aging (Bak & Greene, 1980;Birren, Woods, & Williams, 1980). The digit-symbol is one of a battery of performance measures that has been shown to discriminate survivors, i.e., individuals alive 5 years after initial testing, from nonsurvivors (Botwinick, West, & Storandt, 1978;Jarvick & Falek, 1963).…”

Age-related norms for the Hooper Visual Organization Test

“…For example, age changes in cognitive performance on several tasks of learning, visual memory, and problem solving have been reported by Arenberg and Robertson-Tchabo (1980) based upon longitudinal data. Many other tests, such as the following, also have been shown to be affected by S variables: Weigl Color-Form Sorting Test (Tamkin, 1980;Tamkin & Hyer, in press); Wechsler Memory Scale (Bak & Greene, 1981); Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test (Query & Megran, 1983); Hooper VOT, Trail Making Tests, Porteus Mazes and Benton Visual Retention Test (Sterne, 1973); and the Hooper VOT (Boyd, 1981;Hooper, 1982;Tamkin & Hyer, in press;Wentworth-Rohr, MacKintosh & Fialkoff, 1974). Many other tests, such as the following, also have been shown to be affected by S variables: Weigl Color-Form Sorting Test (Tamkin, 1980;Tamkin & Hyer, in press); Wechsler Memory Scale (Bak & Greene, 1981); Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test (Query & Megran, 1983); Hooper VOT, Trail Making Tests, Porteus Mazes and Benton Visual Retention Test (Sterne, 1973); and the Hooper VOT (Boyd, 1981;Hooper, 1982;Tamkin & Hyer, in press;Wentworth-Rohr, MacKintosh & Fialkoff, 1974).…”