Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory

 

Date of this Version

November 1999

Abstract

A principal factor analysis was performed on variables derived from a neuropsychological battery administered to 100 healthy young adults (aged 17-41 yrs) to investigate the construct validity of the Continuous Recognition Memory test (CRM). It was hypothesized that CRM "hits" and "false alarms" would load on different factors. The factors that emerged in the analysis were labeled Verbal Ability, Divided Attention, Attention to Visual Detail, Visuomotor Integration and Planning, and Learning and Memory. As expected, CRM hits had a significant loading on the Learning and Memory factor. However, CRM false alarms did not have a significant loading on the Divided Attention factor as expected and, instead, loaded significantly on the Attention to Visual Detail factor. A 2nd analysis was performed using variables from the delayed condition of the memory measures. In this analysis, the CRM Delay Recognition variable had significant loadings on both a Nonverbal Memory factor and a Verbal Memory factor. These analyses support the construct validity of CRM hits as a measure of learning and memory and suggest that false alarms provide a measure of attention to visual detail.

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