Error analysis and passage dependency of test items from a standardized test of multiple-sentence reading comprehension for aphasic and non-brain-damaged adults.

Aphasic and non-brain-damaged adults were tested with two forms of the Nelson Reading Skills Test (NRST; Hanna. Schell, & Schreiner, 1977). The NRST is a standardized measure of silent reading for students in Grades 3 through 9 and assesses comprehension of information at three levels of inference (literal, translational, and higher level). Subjects' responses to NRST test items were evaluated to determine if their performance differed on literal, translational, and higher level items. Subjects' performance was also evaluated to determine the passage dependency of NRST test items--the extent to which readers had to rely on information in the NRST reading passages to answer test items. Higher level NRST test items (requiring complex inferences) were significantly more difficult for both non-brain-damaged and aphasic adults than literal items (not requiring inferences) or translational items (requiring simple inferences). The passage dependency of NRST test items for aphasic readers was higher than those reported by Nicholas, MacLennan, and Brookshire (1986) for multiple-sentence reading tests designed for aphasic adults. This suggests that the NRST is a more valid measure of the multiple-sentence reading comprehension of aphasic adults than the other tests evaluated by Nicholas et al. (1986).