Poster Session 02 Program Schedule
02/15/2024
08:00 am - 09:15 am
Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120)
Poster Session 02: Aging | MCI | Neurodegenerative Disease - PART 1
Final Abstract #92
Demographic and Cognitive Predictors of Visual-Graphic Memory Test Performance
Cassandra Smith, Pacific University, Hillsboro, United States
Michael Daniel, Pacific University, Hillsboro, United States
Paul Michael, Pacific University, Hillsboro, United States
Category: Memory Functions/Amnesia
Keyword 1: cognitive functioning
Keyword 2: neuropsychological assessment
Objective:
To determine the influence of demographics and non-memory cognitive abilities on visual-graphic memory test performance in a clinical sample.
Participants and Methods:
Participants were 129 outpatients [53.5% female; mean (SD): age = 46.48(13.95); education = 14.05(2.33)] who completed neuropsychological evaluation at a neurology/neuropsychology clinic. Four separate hierarchical regression analyses were conducted: dependent variables were Rey-Complex Figure Test (RCFT) Immediate and Delay Recall and Visual Reproduction (VR I and VR II) subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale, 4th edition (WMS-IV); independent variables were the same for each analysis and included age, gender, education, as well as neuropsychological tests of attention/working memory, visual-spatial/construction, language, and executive functions.
Results:
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, 4th edition Block Design accounted for 17% and 21% of the variance on Immediate and Delay Recall of RCFT, respectively (ps = .001), as well as 29% and 28% of the variance on VR I and VR II, respectively (ps = .001). No other neuropsychological tests or demographic accounted for significant variance in visual-graphic memory test scores.
Conclusions:
The only non-memory cognitive ability that accounts for significant variance in visual-graphic memory test performance for both immediate and delayed recall is domain-specific visual-spatial/constructional abilities. When interpreting below-average scores on these visual-graphic memory tests, it is important to consider to what extent they may be due to deficits in visual-spatial/construction ability versus a specific memory deficit. These results indicate below average scores of visual-graphic memory tests unlikely are due to deficits in cognitive domains other memory or visual-spatial/construction, at least for similar clinical groups.
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