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Measuring episodic memory: A novel approach with an indefinite number of alternative forms
Author(s) -
Humphreys Michael S.,
Smith Simon,
Pachancy A.,
Tehan Gerry,
Byrne Gerard J.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
applied cognitive psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1099-0720
pISSN - 0888-4080
DOI - 10.1002/acp.1591
Subject(s) - psychology , recall , test (biology) , episodic memory , set (abstract data type) , memory test , cognitive psychology , reliability (semiconductor) , association (psychology) , sample (material) , developmental psychology , cognition , psychiatry , computer science , psychotherapist , chemistry , chromatography , paleontology , power (physics) , physics , quantum mechanics , biology , programming language
Both clinical practice and clinical research settings can require successive administrations of a memory test, particularly when following the trajectory of suspected memory decline in older adults. However, relatively few verbal episodic memory tests have alternative forms. We set out to create a broad‐based memory test to allow for the use of an essentially unlimited number of alternative forms. Four tasks for inclusion in such a test were developed. These tasks varied the requirement for recall as opposed to recognition, the need to form an association between unrelated words, and the need to discriminate the most recent list from earlier lists, all of which proved useful. A total of 115 participants completed the battery of tests and were used to show that the test could differentiate between older and younger adults; a sub‐sample of 73 participants completed alternative forms of the tests to determine test–retest reliability and the amount of learning to learn. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.