Bender Gestalt performance of normal older adults.

With increased numbers of older adults in the population, psychologists are faced frequently with diagnostic questions that concern the neuropsychological functioning of an older client. The need for a brief screening measure of organicity can be filled by the Bender Gestalt Test (BGT), a measure widely used by psychologists. This report provides normative data on the BGT with a sample of 334 normal older adults aged 60 and above who are residing in the community. Using the Hutt-Briskin scoring criteria, it is shown that these older adults, as a group, do not perform on the BGT in a manner that can be called brain-damaged. Use of the cut-off score developed with younger persons appears to be appropriate even with older adults.