The Misplaced Objects Test: a measure of everyday visual memory

The Misplaced Objects Test is a computerized test of object location recall. The test is structurally similar to tasks used in the evaluation of age and drug effects in preclinical animal research. Delayed recall of 20 common objects which the subject has placed using a touch sensitive screen in a computer-simulated 12-room house is evaluated with three measures. Scores include the number of objects found on the first attempt (Found 1), the number of objects found on the second attempt (Found 2), and the total number of objects found on both attempts (Found T). Performance was evaluated in relation to age, gender, education, and affective status, as well as in relation to several traditional neuropsychological measures. Misplaced Objects Test performance was most strongly associated with age and Wechsler Memory Scale Paired Associate Learning. Additional significant relationships were found with gender, education, and the WAIS Digit Symbol subtest. Potential future applications of the test were discussed.