Benton Visual Retention Test: Characteristics And Method Of Use

Neuropsychological testing allows us to evaluate people to determine cognitive status and other higher functions.

The Benton Visual Retention Test is a test used to determine if the patient has a deterioration in visual perception and memory, as well as in other types of motor skills that involve copying and reproducing shapes and drawings.

Below we explain in more detail What does the Benton Visual Retention Test consist of and what does it evaluate? what are its main characteristics, its mode of application and correction, and the uses given to it in clinical practice.

What is the Benton Visual Retention Test and what does it evaluate?

The Benton Visual Retention Test is a neuropsychological test originally developed by AL Benton and designed to assess cognitive impairment in three main areas: visual perception, visual memory and visual-constructive skills.

Visual perception is a concept that involves our brain’s interpretation of the different stimuli received through the sense of sight. This perception encompasses a whole set of processes through which the person organizes, selects and interprets visual information, in a meaningful way and through their previous experience. It is an active process in which information is not only captured, but also transformed and given meaning and coherence.

When it comes to visual memory, it allows us to identify a stimulus, examine it, and assign meaning to it. This type of memory involves a process of perception, encoding, storage and retrieval of stored knowledge and representations arising from cognitive processing. Visual memory uses information to evaluate, compare and locate objects, places and people, by constructing a mental image.

For its part, Visual-constructive skills refer to the ability we have to plan and execute movements necessary to organize a series of elements in space and form two-dimensional or three-dimensional drawings and structures.

Characteristics

The Benton Visual Retention Test has demonstrated its sensitivity to literacy problems, non-verbal learning problems, traumatic brain injury, attention deficit disorder Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

This test has been validated as effective in the evaluation of difficulties in the perception of spatial relationships and in the memory of recently acquired visual stimuli, as well as for the diagnosis of brain damage, both in children and adults.

The studies carried out confirm that the test is reliable and there is a correlation between the different forms of the test, although there is evidence that administration A in form C seems slightly simpler than forms D and E.

The validity of the Benton Visual Retention Test has also been confirmed using other neuropsychological tests, such as the Rey Complex Figure Test or the WAIS cube test, and also by comparing various groups of patients (with cognitive impairment and alterations) and healthy subjects.

All in all, this neuropsychological test does not seem to present specific sensitivity to lesions in the hippocampus of the right hemisphere, unlike other tests such as the Warrington Face Memory Test or the Wechsler Face Memory Subtest (WSM-III). .

Mode of application and interpretation

The Benton Visual Retention Test has 3 alternative forms (C, D and E), and at the same time equivalent, that can be administered in different conditions. During the test, the patient is presented with 10 cards (most contain 3 figures, two large and one small) for several seconds, with unique designs on each of them.

After the time has elapsed for each of the administrations, the person is asked to immediately make a reproduction of the design of each card (in a visual memory exercise).

In the second phase, you are asked to copy each of the 10 card designs , with the cards in sight. The results of each task are evaluated and transcribed into six categories: omissions, distortions, conservations, rotations, misplacements and size errors.

The final score varies from 0, if many errors are made, to 10, if everything is correct. The test must be corrected taking into account the patient’s age and IQ.

Below are the four Possible types of test administration :

Clinical uses of the test

The Benton Visual Retention Test is sensitive to cognitive impairment, brain injuries, and various mental illnesses, although it is difficult to diagnose a particular disorder using this test.

Regarding the test results, it has been shown that a large number of perseverations could suggest damage to the frontal lobe, while many omissions in peripheral designs would suggest possible brain trauma, especially in the right parietal lobe.

On the other hand, the general performance in the test does not seem to distinguish between people with unilateral damage to the left or right hemisphere However, it seems that clinicians are able to distinguish between motor, perceptual or memory deficiencies, based on the analysis of the test results.

The diseases that have been shown to greatly reduce the test score in an individual are: dementias, brain injuries, thalamic stroke and Alzheimer’s disease

Both the copy and recall versions seem to be especially sensitive to the detection of dementia, and could help identify subjects at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease in the future. Likewise, the test has also been able to detect children with learning difficulties.

Finally, it should be noted that the Benton Visual Retention Test was one of the tests included in the NCTB battery of the World Health Organization more than 30 years ago, with the aim of being able to identify the effects caused by chemical exposure in the human nervous system; Since then, it has continued to be used to evaluate such exposure in the workplace, showing high sensitivity to various chemical components, such as mercury, lead or pesticides.