Hopkins Verbal Learning Test – Revised: Normative Data and Analysis of Inter-Form and Test-Retest Reliability

TLDR

The Hopkins Verbal Learning Test (HVLT) is a brief verbal learning and memory test with six alternate forms, suited for repeated neuropsychological assessments but lacking a delayed recall trial essential for detecting abnormal forgetting. The study introduces a revised HVLT (HVLT‑R) that adds a delayed recall trial and postpones the yes/no recognition trial. The authors evaluated form equivalence across two studies using between‑groups and within‑subjects designs, and provided recommendations and normative data tables for the HVLT‑R. Both studies found the six HVLT‑R forms equivalent on recall trials, with only modest recognition differences, and supplied normative data for ages 17–88.

Abstract

Abstract The Hopkins Verbal Learning Test (HVLT) is a brief verbal learning and memory test with six alternate forms. The HVLT is ideal in situations calling for repeated neuropsychological examinations, but it lacks a delayed recall trial which is essential for the assessment of abnormal forgetting. We present a revised version of the HVLT which includes a delayed recall trial, and therefore delays the yes/no recognition trial. The equivalence of test forms was examined in two separate studies using between-groups and within-subjects research designs. In both studies, the six forms of the revised HVLT (HVLT-R) were found to be equivalent with respect to the recall trials, but there were some modest differences in recognition. Recommendations for the use of the HVLT-R in serial neuropsychological examinations are provided, as well as normative data tables from a sample of 541 subjects, spanning ages 17 to 88 years.