The Wechsler Memory Scale and closed head injury

Compared a sample of Ss from the general population (N = 116) with a sample of head-injured patients (N = 70) whose injuries varied from the mild to the very severe. In a criterion factor analysis it was found that the WMS subtests of Logical Memory and Associate Learning were related closely to the criterion of head injury. Both samples were divided at age 35, and analyses of variance were carried out on the four subsamples. The findings were that the younger head-injured patients had very severe memory deficits, whereas these deficits were much less marked with the older head-injured Ss. The most marked deficits were found on WMS Factor I (verbal learning and immediate recall). WMS Factors II and III displayed significant but less clearly marked cognitive deficits. In this study, analysis in terms of the three WMS Factors enabled group and age differences in memory functioning to be highlighted in an unambiguous manner, which suggested that the present factor system is very useful for describing and identifying some types of memory deficit.