C-70Attention Span and Working Memory Correlates of Factorial Components of the Benton Visual Retention Test and the Serial Digit Learning Test, Nine-Digit Form

Objective: Investigation of correlational relationships between factorial components of the Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT) and the nine-digit Serial Digit Learning Test (SDL-9) to each other and to indices of auditory attention span and working memory. Method: Archival data from a diagnostically diverse sample of 129 neuropsychiatric patients who had been administered the BVRT, SDL-9, Digit Span-Forward (DSF) and Letter Number Sequencing (LNS) subtests of the WAIS-III were submitted to a principal component analysis. All cases with these data were included; there were no exclusion criteria. Factor scales from previous research showed two BVRT components (items 1-4 versus items 5-10) and three SDL-9 components that represented early, middle, and late trial factorial subgroups. Results. A three factor solution was obtained that showed systematic relationships of SDL9 and BVRT components to each other and to both DSP-F and LNS. The SDL-9 early and middle trial factors loaded on DSF, the attention span variable. SDL-9 late trials loaded on LNS, the working memory variable. Early BVRT trials loaded on the DSF variable only, whereas Late BVRT trials loaded on both DSF and LNS. Conclusion: Both early and late BVRT components have a rote attentional component whereas late BVRT items also require strategic working memory. SDL9 early and middle trials are attentionally related, whereas late SDL9 trials require strategic working memory.