The California Verbal Learning Test: psychometric characteristics and clinical application

The California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) is a popular clinical and research test that claims to measure key constructs in cognitive psychology such as repetition learning, serial position effects, semantic organization, intrusions, and proactive interference. The psychometric characteristics of the CVLT are reviewed and related to the test's clinical utility. The utility of the CVLT is shown to be limited by its poor standardization and inflated norms. Further, the validity is limited because the CVLT uses multiple trials whereas the constructs it purports to measure are based on single-trial paradigms. The review proposes modifications to the CVLT and guidelines for its clinical use. It concludes that if the limitations of the CVLT are recognized, it can still make a useful contribution to the clinical assessment of verbal learning and memory.