California Verbal Learning Test: Characteristics And Uses

Psychological evaluation encompasses a wide variety of tests and tests that evaluate different traits of the person, especially personality and intelligence.

In this article We will know the California Verbal Learning Test a test that evaluates verbal memory and learning ability, developed by Delis, Kramer, Kaplan and Ober in 1987.

This test consists of a brief technique for evaluating multiple strategies and processes involved in learning and verbal memory. Besides, contributes to the diagnosis and treatment of memory disorders secondary to neurological, psychiatric and learning disorders.

California Verbal Learning Test: general characteristics

The California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) (Delis, Kramer, Kaplan & Ober, 1987) is a neuropsychological test used to evaluate verbal memory and learning ability of a person. It was validated by Dimey, Matallana and Montañez in 1996.

Specifically, it also evaluates the following aspects: memory, recognition, the effects of serial position (how the order of presentation of words affects their memory), learning rate, interference and learning strategies.

Its application age ranges from 5 years to 16 years and 11 months and its scope of application is people with neurological, psychiatric or learning disorders.

The California Verbal Learning Test is guided by a data interpretation methodology based on memory models called “multistore.” Furthermore, it is a test that presents an ecological aspect by presenting the lists to be memorized as “shopping lists”, as we will see later.

Test administration

Administration of the California Verbal Learning Test lasts approximately 35 minutes (although this is variable), and is administered on an individual basis.

First the examiner reads a shopping list aloud, called “Monday’s shopping list”. The list contains 16 common words, each of which belongs to one of 4 categories; In this way there are 4 herbs, 4 fruits, etc.

Subsequently, the subject is asked remember as many words as possible Distractor tasks to assess interference, as well as other lists, are also included later. Let’s see it in detail:

Test components

First of all, the examiner records the number of words that the subject remembers, after completing several trials. It also records whether the subject is using the information from each category that is, whether the subject has grouped the words by categories or not.

Next, the examiner reads a second list, “the Tuesday shopping list,” and then checks whether the subject is able to remember and maintain the items on each list separately, or whether he confuses or mixes the two lists.

Finally, the examiner offers 20 minutes of time to perform other tasks (“distractor tasks”), and then asks the subject again for the 16 words from the first list. So, interference is also evaluated

In addition to the free recall tests discussed, the California Verbal Learning Test includes two semantically cued recall tests, which are presented immediately after the short-term and long-term free recall tests, respectively.

Test results

In the application of the California Verbal Learning Test, it has been observed how in general Women tend to group more by category than men On the other hand, patients with different types of brain damage or disorders have shown certain patterns of performance.

For example, patients with Alzheimer’s disease They tend to show more difficulties when grouping by category, and they almost never do it (for example, they say “oranges, apples, grapes and fish”). Patients with Parkinson’s disease, for their part, tend to make repetition errors (for example, saying “apples, oranges, bananas, oranges”).

Spanish version of the California Verbal Learning Test: TAVEC

The Spanish adaptation of the CVLT is the Spain-Complutense Verbal Learning Test (TAVEC), prepared by María Jesús Benedet and María Ángeles Alejandre in 1998 (with its last version in 2014). The TAVEC explores, like the California Verbal Learning Test, verbal memory and learning.

The TAVEC contains three lists of items that can be grouped into 4 categories to assess learning, interference, and recognition.

The test allows us to determine the “normality” of the subject, comparing it with a sample similar in age, sex and educational level. It also describes the mode of operation of its memory system (it is based on theories of the modularity of the mind). Additionally, determine the form and reason for deviation, if it appears, and offers indicators of possible suspicions of dementia

At a technical level, its administration lasts approximately 40 minutes (similar to the California Verbal Learning Test); It is also for individual application and the population it is aimed at is adolescents and adults with and without brain damage (from 16 years of age).