Admin: Individual
The standard RAVLT format starts with a list of 15 words, which the examiner reads aloud at the rate of one word per second. The test-taker's task is to repeat all the words he or she can remember, in any order. This procedure is carried out a total of five times. Then, the examiner presents a second list of 15 words, allowing the test-taker only one attempt at recall. Immediately following this, the individual is asked to remember as many words as possible from the first list.
The RAVLT is useful in evaluating verbal learning and memory, including proactive inhibition, retroactive inhibition, retention, encoding versus retrieval, and subjective organization. Because the test is brief, straightforward, easy to understand, and appropriate for children, adolescents, and adults ages 7-89 years, it has gained widespread acceptance. However, until now, comprehensive data about the RAVLT norms, validity studies, different administration and scoring procedures, etc., have been scattered in various sources.
This handbook describes the test, its development, and its uses including the following topics:
- Administration and Scoring
- Selecting Norms
- Selecting an Appropriate Form
- A Review of RAVLT Norms
- Interpretation
- Moderator Variables (Age, Education, Intelligence, Gender, Ethnicity, Culture, and Clinical Diagnosis)
- Impaired Motivation and Malingering
- Alternate Forms and Test-Retest Comparisons
- Reliability and Validity
Appendices include test form and stimulus sheets, supplementary scores and indexes, and conversion tables for obtaining z scores, T scores, standard scores, and approximate percentiles. In addition, a 4-page Record Sheet and Score Summary, available with the Handbook or separately, allows you to quickly organize and record RAVLT special scores and indexes
