TWO MINUTE CLINICAL TEST FOR MEASUREMENT OF INTELLECTUAL IMPAIRMENT IN PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS

Abstract

One of the prime necessities for the clinical psychiatrist in the completion of a mental examination is a quickly applicable and reasonably accurate test for the measurement of intellectual efficiency and the estimation of the degree of mental impairment. Most of the available psychologic tests are time consuming and require special technics, and not infrequently special training, for their application. The serial subtraction of 7 from 100 has been found to fulfil the essential requirements, and the purpose of this paper is to establish the standardization and thus to provide a basis of comparison for the results, which heretofore have been impressionistically interpreted. The successful performance of the test depends on the subject's ability to comprehend and utilize simple mathematical concepts involving symbolism and abstractions. As such, in addition to factors of memory and learning, it requires particularly abstract thinking ability. In a previous paper¹the evolution and development