Factor analysis of three standardized tests of memory in a clinical population.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to determine the factor structure of three standardized memory tests: Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R), Warrington Recognition Memory Test (WRMT), Doors and People Test (D&P). We investigated whether these different standardized tests of memory are consistent in their evaluation of memory function, and the extent to which these tests discriminate between different memory functions (e.g. recall/recognition and verbal/non-verbal memory). DESIGN Fifty patients with selective memory impairment were tested on the WMS-R, WRMT and D&P. METHODS Age-scaled scores from selective measures of these tests (WMS-R-verbal, WMS-R-visual, WMS-R-delay, WRMT-words, WRMT-faces, D&P-people, D&P-doors, D&P-shapes, D&P-names) were used as input to a factor analysis. RESULTS Maximum likelihood factor analysis yielded a three-factor solution consistent with a theoretically motivated fractionation of memory function into recall and recognition components. Recognition performance, but not recall performance, showed dissociation into visual and verbal components. CONCLUSIONS The WMS-R, WRMT and D&P are highly consistent in their assessment of memory function. The results of the factor analysis are consistent with a theoretically motivated fractionation of recall and recognition memory. They are also partially consistent with a dissociation between visual and verbal memory function.