An introduction to the Ruthven Impairment Assessment (RIA): A stability study

The Ruthven Impairment Assessment (RIA) is introduced as a new neurocognitive test for the evaluation of complex attentional, reasoning, and working-memory abilities. It contains 5 subtests and is administered by computer within 15 min. The subtests include measures of simple and complex attention, working memory, sequential reasoning, and problem-solving abilities. A clock is presented on the computer screen and the participant is instructed to use the space bar or a mouse to respond to the test items. Scores include reaction time and accuracy measures. The present study evaluates the stability of the RIA in healthy, normal individuals by repeating the procedure 3 times and comparing performance with analyses of variance (ANOVAs). The ANOVA results with 1 exception were nonsignificant, indicating that the RIA scores are stable in normal individuals and do not fluctuate significantly across testing.