Abstract

Although memory deficit is one of the most common features of various brain diseases and dementia, its assessment tool with satisfactory reliability and validity has not yet been developed in Korea. The purpose of this study was to examine clinical usefulness of the K-MAS(Korean form of Memory Assessment Scale) and to collect normative data. K-MAS is Korean version of MAS(Memory Assessment Scales; Williams,1991), in which several original items were adjusted to the Korean culture. But we made every effort to ensure that the same cognitive processes that MAS aims to assess would be tapped in K-MAS. We administered K-MAS to 408 normal adults. The results revealed that the score patterns of K-MAS were similar to those of MAS, indicating the same internal structure as that of MAS. The traditional notion that memory function is correlated with age and educational level was confirmed in this study. Especially, memory weakening seems to begin as early as in the forties. It is thought to be desired that the ase range be divided into categories of age of between 19-39, between 40-59, 60 or over, and the levels of education into categories of educational year of 6 or below, between 7 and 12, 13 or over. All subtests and summary scales of K-MAS were highly correlated with Global Memory Scale, verbal subtests with Verbal Memory Scale, and visual subtests with Visual Memory Scale. The Names-faces subtest was correlated with both Verbal and Visual Memory Scales, which confirms that the task measures the ability to associate verbal(names) and nonverbal(faces) material. The above results suggest K-MAS has high internal consistency. Finally, the results revealed that the memory functioning of the Korean elderly was poorer than the American elderly in any educational level. Further investigation is needed to explore possible factors which might explain such difference.