| Popis: |
The present study examines a new measure of nonverbal visuospatial memory called the Poreh Nonverbal Memory Test. The Poreh Nonverbal Memory Test is a computer administered test of nonverbal memory which requires participants to learn the location of a target box in nine different geometric designs which are located amongst distractor boxes. Participants complete five trials, take a thirty minute break and then complete one last trial. The number of clicks it takes to find the target box is recorded and then learning curves are computed. This test addresses problems with many currently common measures of nonverbal memory by reducing the possibility of using verbal mediation and planning thus making it a useful tool for clinicians (Poreh, 2012). The present study assessed the construct validity of the Poreh Nonverbal Memory Test by comparing performance on the Poreh Nonverbal Memory Test to performance on the Biber Figure Learning Test – Extended and the Poreh Adaption of the Yerke’s Logical Prose Test. It was found that the Poreh Nonverbal Memory Test correlated with both the Biber Figure Learning Test – Extended and the Poreh Adaption of the Yerke’s Logical Prose Test. However a more robust correlation was found between the Poreh Nonverbal Memory and the Biber Figure Learning Test – Extended thus establishing convergent validity as well as divergent validity. This is consistent with the findings of previous studies which compared the Poreh Nonverbal Memory test with other measures of verbal and nonverbal memory (Kociuba, 2011; Phelan, 2013). It was also found that all three of the measures exhibited near perfect learning curves with an r2 ranging from 0.9744 to 0.9979, thus suggesting that the tests are good measures of learning and memory. Future research on the Poreh Nonverbal Memory should examine performance in different populations with lateralized neurological deficits such as left and right Medial Temporal Lobe (Glosser, Cole, Khatri, DellaPietra & Kaplan, 2002). It would also be useful to compare performance on the Poreh Nonverbal Memory Test to other measures of nonverbal memory such as the Rey Design Learning Test and the Visual Reproduction I and II task of the Weschler Memory Scale III and IV. |
