Simultaneous confirmatory factor analysis of the Wechsler Memory Scale - Revised for two standardization samples: A comparison of groups from Japan and the United States

We employed a simultaneous confirmatory factor analysis to assess the hypothesized three-factor structure of the Wechsler Memory Scale - Revised (i.e., Attention/Concentration, Immediate Memory, Delayed Recall factors) in samples from Japan and the United States. The aim of the study was to provide a rigorous test of the hypothesis that the factor structure of the Wechsler Memory Scale - Revised is invariant across languages. We found configural invariance in two groups, that is, the same number of factors was found and the factor patterns were similar across the two samples. Our results tended to support the potential utility of the Wechsler Memory Scale - Revised in the analysis of the Japanese population, and the present findings appeared to be consistent with the contention that the Wechsler Memory Scale - Revised represents universal dimensions of memory. However, the factor patterns were slightly different between the two groups in the visual recall tests. The slight difference of the factor patterns may be caused with linguistic differences and/or differences among neural substrates in the brain associated with each group.