The Memory Binding Test: Development of Two Alternate Forms into Spanish and Catalan

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Linguistics

Background:

• The Memory Binding Test (MBT) shows promise for detecting subtle memory deficits indicative of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
• Widespread clinical adoption necessitates the development of alternate test forms and multilingual adaptations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a robust methodology for creating parallel forms (A and B) of the MBT in Spanish and Catalan.
• To evaluate the psychometric equivalence of these adapted MBT forms.

Main Methods:

• Lexical frequency was the primary variable for Spanish and Catalan adaptations, mirroring the original MBT development.
• A crossed design compared MBT results across forms and languages in 290 cognitively normal middle-aged adults.
• Equivalence was assessed using pairwise Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICCs).

Main Results:

• The adapted Spanish and Catalan word lists for MBT Forms A and B are presented alongside the original English lists.
• ICC values between forms and languages ranged from 0.56 to 0.82, indicating good agreement.

Conclusions:

• The Spanish and Catalan versions of MBT Forms A and B demonstrate comparable performance and can be considered equivalent.
• The presented transcultural adaptation and equivalence methodology can serve as a model for future adaptations of the MBT and other verbal tests.