PSYCHIATRIC NORMS FOR THE REY 15-ITEM VISUAL MEMORY TEST

The 15-item Visual Memory Test was proposed by Rey in 1964 as a measure of malingering Of visual memory. Among psychiatric patients the task has a significant cognitive component, with IQ accounting for 37% of the variance in scores (r = .60). Any interpretation of scores on this task should be ability-based. Such ability-based norms are provided in this study of psychiatric patients (N = 300). Use of a single cut-off score to indicate malingering or any other interpretation is inappropriate given the psychometric properties of the task. In the assessment of immediate visual memory the task has some utility, which is greatly enhanced with the use of ability-based norms.