title: Reliability and validity of the Leuven Perceptual Organization Screening Test (L-POST).
abstract: Neuropsychological tests of visual perception mostly assess high-level processes like object recognition. Object recognition, however, relies on distinct mid-level processes of perceptual organization that are only implicitly tested in classical tests. Furthermore, the psychometric properties of the existing instruments are limited. To fill this gap, the Leuven perceptual organization screening test (L-POST) was developed, in which a wide range of mid-level phenomena are measured in 15 subtests. In this study, we evaluated reliability and validity of the L-POST. Performance on the test is evaluated relative to a norm sample of more than 1,500 healthy control participants. Cronbach's alpha of the norm sample and test-retest correlations for 20 patients provide evidence for adequate reliability of L-POST performance. The convergent and discriminant validity of the test was assessed in 40 brain-damaged patients, whose performance on the L-POST was compared with standard clinical tests of visual perception and other measures of cognitive function. The L-POST showed high sensitivity to visual dysfunction and decreased performance was specific to visual problems. In conclusion, the L-POST is a reliable and valid screening test for perceptual organization. It offers a useful online tool for researchers and clinicians to get a broader overview of the mid-level processes that are preserved or disrupted in a given patient.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vancleef
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Elia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Acke
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuroscience, University of Louvain, Louvain-la-neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: Katrien
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Torfs
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Nele
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Demeyere
authors.affiliation: Scientific Unit Rehabilitation Hospital RevArte, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lafosse
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Glyn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Humphreys
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wagemans
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: de-Wit
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods*; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: brain damage; confirmatory factor analysis; convergent and discriminant validity; gestalts; mid-level vision; neuropsychology; perception; perceptual organization; reliability; screening test