An analysis of the Hooper Visual Organization Test with neurological patients

An item analysis of the Hooper Visual Organization Test (VOT) was performed using the test protocols of 320 German-speaking neurological patients with a mean age of 51.3 years. All patients presented some form of cerebral pathology. The sample yielded a mean test score of 18.8 (SD = 6.2). Estimates of internal consistency of the total scale yielded acceptable results (>.88). Although the VOT was judged to be a useful instrument for assessing visuoperceptual and visuospatial-organizational dysfunction, item characteristics of the test are not satisfactory. In particular, the item ranking does not correspond to the order of difficulty. Moreover, in their current form, scoring rules of a number of items seem to be arbitrary and not founded on empirical data. A revision of the VOT is proposed to improve its psychometric properties.