Comparison of oral and computerized versions of the word memory test.

A computer-administered version of the Word Memory Test (WMT) was compared with the orally administered version in two clinical samples to assess equivalency of the two versions. The two samples included inpatients at an epilepsy center (n = 67) and forensic and clinical referrals to a private practice (n = 58). A randomized procedure was used to assign participants to either version of the WMT. Only the results of the WMT primary effort measures were analyzed. Between-group comparisons of the WMT effort measures were conducted using Mann-Whitney nonparametric analysis. No significant differences were found between versions for several diagnostic subgroups. The data generally support equivalency of the orally administered version and the computerized version of the WMT effort measures in a mixed outpatient sample.