Abstract
The Symbol Digit Modalities Test [SDMT; Smith, A. (1982). Symbol Digit Modalities Test. Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services; Smith, A. (1968). The symbol-digit modalities test: a neuropsychologic test of learning and other cerebral disorders. In J. Helmuth (Ed.), Learning disorders (pp. 83-91). Seattle: Special Child Publications] is a substitution task that is the inverse of the Digit Symbol Test [Wechsler, D. (1955). Manual for the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). New York: The Psychological Corporation]. The familiar task of filling numbers in boxes, and the availability of an oral administration, make this a popular screening instrument for brain impairment. Normative data were previously reported for a variety of clinical groups, but complete information on non-clinical samples across age, education, gender, and socioeconomic status is limited. The present study examines the performance of a community-dwelling control sample across age, education, gender, and income groupings. In a multivariate model, these four variables did not impact test performance. These results support the utilization of the SDMT as a robust screening test for adult neuropsychological impairment.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 23-28 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology |
Volume | 21 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2006 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research was supported by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism grants R01 AA12217, R37 AA07065, and T32 AA07477 to R.A. Zucker, J.T. Nigg, and H.E. Fitzgerald.
Keywords
- Cognitive ability
- Neuropsychological assessment
- Normative sample
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Psychiatry and Mental health