Sensitivity of the Halstead and Wechsler Test Batteries to brain damage: Evidence from Reitan's original validation sample.

Full Abstract

The Halstead-Reitan Battery has been instrumental in the development of neuropsychological practice in the United States. Although Reitan administered both the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale and Halstead's test battery when evaluating Halstead's theory of biologic intelligence, the relative sensitivity of each test battery to brain damage continues to be an area of controversy. Because Reitan did not perform direct parametric analysis to contrast group performances, we reanalyze Reitan's original validation data from both Halstead (Reitan, 1955) and Wechsler batteries (Reitan, 1959a) and calculate effect sizes and probability levels using traditional parametric approaches. Eight of the 10 tests comprising Halstead's original Impairment Index, as well as the Impairment Index itself, statistically differentiated patients with unequivocal brain damage from controls. In addition, 13 of 14 Wechsler measures including Full-Scale IQ also differed statistically between groups (Brain Damage Full-Scale IQ = 96.2; Control Group Full Scale IQ = 112.6). We suggest that differences in the statistical properties of each battery (e.g., raw scores vs. standardized scores) likely contribute to classification characteristics including test sensitivity and specificity.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Loring, David W (DW); Larrabee, Glenn J (GJ);

Affiliation: Department of Neurology, Center for Neuropsychological Studies, McKnight Brian Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA. david.loring(-atsign-)neurology.ufl.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: The Clinical neuropsychologist (Clin Neuropsychol), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Jun; vol 20 (issue 2) : pp 221-9

Dates: Created 2006/05/12; Completed 2006/07/26; Revised 2007/06/01;

PMID: 16690543, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Brain Damage, Chronic - classification; diagnosis; physiopathology; psychology
Case-Control Studies
Female
Humans

Intelligence Tests - statistics & numerical data
Male
Neuropsychological Tests
Reproducibility of Results
Sensitivity and Specificity

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.