Theses and Dissertations

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Date of Award

1-1-2020

Document Type

Dissertation - NSU Access Only

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

First Advisor

Charles Golden

Keywords

concurrent validity; higher-order cognition; visual-spatial analysis; WMS-IV Designs Memory; working memory

Abstract

Designs Memory represents a new addition to the Wechsler Memory Scale, Fourth Edition (WMS-IV), yet the concurrent validity of this widely used test is limited only to correlations presented by the publisher, which suggest Designs is a measure of visual/visual-spatial memory. Additional research is needed to better understand the neuropsychological processes involved during the Designs. In this study, concurrent and divergent validity in relation to other neuropsychological domains were tested using 2 hierarchical regression models. The twin models each tested the ability of 4 neuropsychological domains (visual-spatial ability, higher-order cognitive functions, effort/motivation, and auditory working memory), to predict Designs I or II performance. After controlling for age, education, and verbal intelligence, only the visual-spatial component was a significant predictor of Designs I and II. These results support the specificity of Designs as a measure of nonverbal and visual-spatial memory functions associated with the non-dominant posterior cortex. Clinically, results suggest Designs performance is insensitive to the effects of frontal lobe dysfunction and/or left hemisphere dysfunction. These results are consistent with broader neuropsychological theories postulating that verbal and nonverbal memory functions are mediated by separable neural systems at the cortical level.

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