Abstract

The present study explored the reliability and the validity of our newly constructed verbal memory test, the Korean version of the California Verbal Learning Test (K-CVLT). As a cognitive process approach to memory assessment, the CVLT differs from previous memory tests in that it measures various processes and paramemters of verbal memory in a single test. Despite its short history, the CVLTs validity has been confirmed in many studies involving various subject populations, and has been widely used in the U.S. and Europe. While following the basic principles of the CVLT, we constructed the K-CVLT considering the cultural and language differences between Korean and American people. We gave the K-CVLT to 150 college students in Seoul, Cheongju, and Pohang, and developed the college-student norms including the Verbal Memory Score(VMS) and the standard scores for various memory indices measured by K-CVLT. The estimate of split-half reliability using the Spearman-Brown formula was .92. The validity of the K-CVLT was investigated by factor-analyzing the 19 K-CVLT indices, yielding 6 factors of general verbal learning ability, response discriminability, retroactive interference effect, proactive interference effect, learning strategy, and learning rate. The present results indicate that the K-CVLT is a useful tool for qualitatively assessing various verbal memory processes, strategies, and errors. We believe that the K-CVLT will be of considerable value to many fields such as clinical neuropsychology, experimental cognitive psychology, and neuroscience, when the present study is followed by additional normative and validity studies involving various age- and clinical-subject groups.