Word memory test performance in Canadian adolescents with learning disabilities: a preliminary study

The purpose of this study was to evaluate Word Memory Test (WMT) performances in students with identified learning disabilities (LDs) providing good effort to examine the influence of severe reading or learning problems on WMT performance. Participants were 63 students with LDs aged 11 to 14 years old (M = 12.19 years), who completed psychoeducational assessments as part of a transition program to secondary school. Participants were administered a battery of psychodiagnostic tests including the WMT. Results indicated that 9.5% of students with LD met Criterion A on the WMT (i.e., perform below cut-offs on any of the first three subtests of the WMT), but less than 1% met both criteria necessary for identification of low effort. Failure on the first three subtests of the WMT was associated with word reading at or below the 1st percentile and severely impaired phonetic decoding and phonological awareness skills. These results indicate that the majority of students with a history of LD are capable of passing the WMT, and use of profile analysis reduces the false-positive rate to below 1%.