A fair approach in testing: Neuropsychological assessment of the deaf and hard of hearing persons. Translation and adaptations of the AVLT test
Abstract
Objectives. In the context of Czech cultural environment, there is a relatively large group of people (in the order of tens of thousands at minimum) with hearing impairment who cannot be examined by usual neuropsychological methods.
This article describes the adaptation of a classical neuropsychological verbal memory test (Auditory Verbal Learning Test) to visual form (written Czech language - WCL) and translation to visuomotor form (Czech Sign Language - CSL). Sample and settings. 60 deaf and hard-of-hearing (HOH) respondents were tested by a version of AVLT (WCL/CSL) according to their preferred mode of communication, BVRT was used as a control test.
Hypotheses. The authors hypothesized that both AVLT versions are functional, and that the results of the respondents correspond with the previously published norms.
A correlation of AVLT and BVRT results among the groups was assumed. Statistical analysis.
Due to the skewness of the data, nonparametric statistics were used. The adjusted versions do not differ significantly from the original version and from one another (p > 0.05), the influence of certain demographic variables was confirmed (p 0.05).
AVLT-BVRT correlation proved non-significant (Spearman's rho, p > 0.05). Results.
The obtained results proved the functionality of adaptations. The results of deaf and hard of hearing people that were obtained essentially correspond to the normative data.
Adapted tests can be used both as a behavioral correlate for the use of neuroscience methods or as a method for verbal memory examination of deaf and hard of hearing people (for example in the context of diagnosing cognitive deficits or learning difficulties). The possibilities and limitations of the selection of neuropsychological methods for deaf and HOH respondents are discussed.
Limitations. The research was limited by nonrandom selection and a smaller number and heterogeneity of participants and by the procedure of testing; in the future, authors recommend choosing a test other than BVRT to determine convergent validity.