Test complexity and brain damage at different educational levels.

This investigation attempted to determine whether the complexity (problem-solving component) of selected tests of the Reitan-Halstead Neuropsychological Test Battery was related to their ability to discriminate groups of brain-damaged and non-brain-damaged adults at different educational levels. Twenty tests from the Wechsler-Bellevue and the Reitan-Halstead Battery were administered to 51 brain-damaged and 51 non-brain-damaged adults at three educational levels (grade school, high school, university). Spearman rank-order correlations were obtained for the relationship of task complexity with global scores that reflected the effects of education and brain damage for each variable and with the differences between group means for each education level. The ability of these measures to discriminate the groups was correlated significantly with problem-solving level, whereas the effects of education were correlated negatively with this dimension.