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VRT (verbal reasoning test): a new test for assessment of verbal reasoning. Test realization and Italian normative data from a multicentric study

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Abstract

Verbal reasoning is a complex, multicomponent function, which involves activation of functional processes and neural circuits distributed in both brain hemispheres. Thus, this ability is often impaired after brain injury. The aim of the present study is to describe the construction of a new verbal reasoning test (VRT) for patients with brain injury and to provide normative values in a sample of healthy Italian participants. Three hundred and eighty healthy Italian subjects (193 women and 187 men) of different ages (range 16–75 years) and educational level (primary school to postgraduate degree) underwent the VRT. VRT is composed of seven subtests, investigating seven different domains. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed a significant effect of age and education on the participants’ performance in terms of both VRT total score and all seven subtest scores. No gender effect was found. A correction grid for raw scores was built from the linear equation derived from the scores. Inferential cut-off scores were estimated using a non-parametric technique, and equivalent scores were computed. We also provided a grid for the correction of results by z scores.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Carolina Nozzolillo and Paola Carnevale for their help in the administration of the test.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro Cardinal Ferrari, via IV Novembre, 21, Fontanellato, 43012, Parma, Italy

    Benedetta Basagni, Laura Giunchi & Antonio De Tanti

  2. Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy

    Claudio Luzzatti

  3. Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy

    Claudio Luzzatti

  4. Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della Socializzazione, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy

    Eduardo Navarrete

  5. Auxilium Vitae, Volterra, Pisa, Italy

    Marina Caputo

  6. Università di Padova, Padova, Italy

    Gessica Scrocco

  7. Centro di Riabilitazione di Terranuova Bracciolini, Montevarchi, Arezzo, Italy

    Alessio Damora & Mauro Mancuso

  8. Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, Levante Ligure, La Spezia, Italy

    Paola Gemignani

  9. Istituto di Riabilitazione Santo Stefano, Ascoli Piceno, Italy

    Annarita Caiazzo

  10. Ospedale Sacro Cuore Don Calabria, Negrar, Verona, Italy

    Maria Grazia Gambini & Renato Avesani

  11. Dipartimento di Psicologia, Seconda Università di Napoli, Caserta, Italy

    Luigi Trojano

Authors
  1. Benedetta Basagni
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  2. Claudio Luzzatti
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  3. Eduardo Navarrete
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  4. Marina Caputo
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  6. Alessio Damora
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  7. Laura Giunchi
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  8. Paola Gemignani
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  9. Annarita Caiazzo
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  10. Maria Grazia Gambini
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  11. Renato Avesani
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  12. Mauro Mancuso
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  13. Luigi Trojano
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  14. Antonio De Tanti
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Correspondence to Benedetta Basagni.

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Basagni, B., Luzzatti, C., Navarrete, E. et al. VRT (verbal reasoning test): a new test for assessment of verbal reasoning. Test realization and Italian normative data from a multicentric study. Neurol Sci 38, 643–650 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-017-2817-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-017-2817-9

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