C-34An Evaluation of the CVLT-II Substitution on the WMS-IV amongst a Mixed Clinical and Nonclinical Population

Objective: The WMS-IV manual introduced a novel substitution rule in which scores from the CVLT-II may replace WMS-IV scores for Verbal Paired Associates I and II subtests; the validity of this substitution remains unclear. The purpose of the paper was to determine whether this substitution significantly alters WMS-IV index scores, thus affecting subsequent analyses and diagnostic decision-making. Method: Participants consisted of 70 adults aged 18–64 from a mixed normal (N = 46) and clinical (N = 24) population. The sample was 54.3% women, 64.3% Caucasian, and 85.7% right-handed, with a mean education level of 15.26 years (SD = 2.39). Variables from the CVLT-II and WMS-IV were used in analyses. Results: Results were considered significant at the p < 0.05 level. When comparing WMS-IV index scores with and without CVLT-II score substitutions, paired t-tests indicated a significant difference regarding the DMI Index Score, t (69) = − 2.024, in which participants generally performed better without the CVLT substitution (M =109.46, SD = 13.60) than with the CVLT substitution (M =108.43, SD = 14.65). No significant differences were found regarding the Auditory Memory Index or Immediate Memory Index Scores. Conclusions: CVLT-II Delayed Free Recall does not appear to be interchangeable with WMS-IV Verbal Paired Associates II. Examinees appear to demonstrate superior retention and retrieval on Verbal Paired Associates II, which could be attributed to the corrective feedback given on Verbal Paired Associates I and mandated visual interference tasks between immediate and delayed recall trials. The authors suggest that caution should be taken when utilizing this score substitution.