How Does Teleneuropsychology Digit Span Measure Up?

Author(s)

Samantha Spagna, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Bailey McDonald, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Justin Burgess, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
D'anna Sydow, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Charles Golden, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow

Document Type

Poster

Publication Title

Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology

ISSN

0887-6177

Publication Date

9-2021

Abstract

Objective

To see how strongly performance on a computerized visual digit span task correlates with non-computerized digit span subtests.

Method

The data were chosen from a de-identified database. Undiagnosed adult volunteers (n = 105) took the WAIS-IV Digit Span and TMB Digit Span subtests. Demographic characteristics were as follows: Age (M = 28.5, SD = 11.2), education (M = 16.2, SD = 1.9), gender (60% Female), race (69.8% White). A Pearson correlation was run on the TMB and WAIS-IV longest digit span forward (ldsf) and longest digit span backward (ldsb) raw scores of the same individuals.

Results

Results suggest a moderate correlation between WAIS-IV ldsf (M = 7.14, SD = 1.31) and TMB (M = 6.90, SD = 1.29) ldsf raw scores, r = 0.45, p > 0.01. Moreover, results indicated a moderate correlation between WAIS-IV ldsb (M = 7.69, SD = 1.43) and TMB (M = 5.66, SD = 1.81) ldsb raw scores, r = 0.38, p > 0.01. 73.1% of participants had the same or were within one digit on ldsf scores on both assessments, while 93% were within two digits. 63.8% of participants had the same ldsb scores on both assessments, while 81.9% were within two digits.

Conclusion

Clinicians must note the risk of assuming computerized tests measure the same cognitive functions as standardized paper-and-pencil tests. These results underscore this point. Future studies should continue to assess how well in-person tests align with other computerized tests purporting to measure the same cognitive abilities by examining other variables (i.e., auditory vs. visual, controlled vs. non-controlled environment).

DOI

10.1093/arclin/acab062.209

Volume

36

Issue

6

NSUWorks Citation

Spagna, S., McDonald, B., Burgess, J., Sydow, D., Golden, C. (2021). How Does Teleneuropsychology Digit Span Measure Up?. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 36(6).
Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facarticles/1971