title: Does memory test performance in children become more consistent with age? Cross-sectional comparisons using the WRAML. Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning.
abstract: This study examined intertask consistency on the Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning (WRAML), using two age cohorts of children. Eighty-one neurologically impaired children and 76 matched (i.e., age, gender, race) controls were separated into two age groups, 5- to 9- and 10- to 14-year-olds. Performance on four subtests from the WRAML Memory Screening Index were examined. For the older neurologic sample, all six intertask correlations were significant (mean r = .58) while only three of the six correlation coefficients were significant among the younger neurologic group (mean r = .26). In contrast, only three of the six intertask coefficients were statistically significant in both the younger and older controls. A possible explanation for these divergent findings and clinical implications of intertask variability on memory measures are discussed.
authors.affiliation: University of Alabama at Birmingham, 35294-4551, USA.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Putzke
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Boll
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011594:Psychometrics; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012153:Retention, Psychology