B – 126 Visual Pattern and Shape Discrimination: A Principal Component Analysis of Benton’s VFDT using WAIS-IV Indices, Visuospatial, and Language Tasks

Abstract Objective There is a lack of psychometric research on Benton’s Visual Form Discrimination Test (VFDT). Based on what literature exists on cognitive skills that might complement what the VFDT intends to measure (i.e., the ability to visually discriminate), our research team sought to construct validate the VFDT using representative measures of global intellect (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, 4th Edition (WAIS-IV), visuospatial (Benton Judgment of Line Orientation (JLO)), and expressive language (Boston Naming Test (BNT)) skills. Method The Psychological Assessment Unit (PSYAU), led by Dr. James A. Moses, PhD, ABPP-CN, administered neuropsychological evaluations to a demographically diverse group of US Military Veterans in Northern California (n = 231; age = 52.71 years old ± .953 years). Diagnostically, Veterans presented with myriad medical, psychiatric, and neurologic conditions. Each Veteran included in this sample validly completed Benton’s VFDT, WAIS-IV, JLO, and the BNT. For statistical analyses, we conducted a series of principal component analyses (PCAs) to explore dimensional relationships between the mentioned tests with a final factor solution that combined the VFDT, WAIS-IV, JLO, and BNT. Results Our final factor solution showed a high degree of test variance explained by the model (80.768%) among four dimensional factors. The first factor was verbally mediated, while the other three factors were nonverbally mediated. Conclusion These findings suggest that visual discrimination, as measured by the VFDT, involves global intellect, visuospatial, and expressive language skills. More specifically, items on the VFDT differentially correlate with these cognitive skills. Accordingly, clinicians may choose to interpret VFDT performance within the context of these findings.