The Impact of American Content on California Verbal Learning Test Performance: A New Zealand Illustration

The assessment of verbal memory is a core component of neuropsychological assessment, and is often assessed through the use of list-learning tasks. As with other neuropsychological tests, list-learning tasks may be impacted by cultural relevance of test content. This study examined the extent to which the American content of the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) impacts upon the verbal memory performance of New Zealanders. Participants included 90 healthy New Zealand adults who ranged in age from 17 to 81 years. Each participant completed the CVLT and a new version of this test that was modified to reflect New Zealand content (NZ-VLT). Performance on the two measures was not significantly impacted by gender, cultural identity (European/Pakeha; Maori or Pacific Islander), or version of the test administered first. Poorer performances on all scores for both measures were significantly related to increased age, with larger correlation coefficients produced for the New Zealand version of the task. Within-subject comparisons revealed that participants performed significantly better on the New Zealand version of the task for short-delay free recall, long-delay free recall, and recognition trials. Implications of these findings are presented to aid clinicians in future applications of the CVLT in New Zealand.