The relationship of the Allen Cognitive Level Test to cognitive abilities and psychopathology.

The cognitive factors measured by the Allen Cognitive Level Test (ACL) (Allen, 1982) as well as the test's relationship to level of psychopathology were examined through a retrospective study of 71 patients from a general hospital psychiatry unit. Pearson correlations, computed for the ACL score with the Shipley Institute of Living Scale (Shipley, 1940), a general measure of intellectual functioning, were significant. A strong correlation was found between the ACL and the Symbol-Digit Modalities Test (Smith, 1982), a measure of motor speed and concentration often used as a neurological screening instrument. This suggests the potential usefulness of the ACL to screen for cognitive dysfunctions associated with organicity. Contrary to hypothesis, there was no significant correlation between the ACL and measures of psychopathology such as the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961) and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (Hathaway & McKinley, 1940). The relationship of the ACL to other recognized measures of cognitive functioning increases its usefulness as a valid measure of day-to-day limitations in the functioning of psychiatric patients. Effective communication of the implications of these cognitive levels to a multidisciplinary treatment team is enhanced by knowledge of the relationship of the ACL to measures of cognitive functioning and psychopathology used by other disciplines.