Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Dec;21(6):669-78.
doi: 10.1177/1073191114524270. Epub 2014 Feb 26.

Development of abbreviated eight-item form of the Penn Verbal Reasoning Test

Warren B Bilker  1 , Michael R Wierzbicki  2 , Colleen M Brensinger  2 , Raquel E Gur  2 , Ruben C Gur  2
Affiliations

Development of abbreviated eight-item form of the Penn Verbal Reasoning Test

Warren B Bilker et al. Assessment. 2014 Dec.

Abstract

The ability to reason with language is a highly valued cognitive capacity that correlates with IQ measures and is sensitive to damage in language areas. The Penn Verbal Reasoning Test (PVRT) is a 29-item computerized test for measuring abstract analogical reasoning abilities using language. The full test can take over half an hour to administer, which limits its applicability in large-scale studies. We previously described a procedure for abbreviating a clinical rating scale and a modified procedure for reducing tests with a large number of items. Here we describe the application of the modified method to reducing the number of items in the PVRT to a parsimonious subset of items that accurately predicts the total score. As in our previous reduction studies, a split sample is used for model fitting and validation, with cross-validation to verify results. We find that an 8-item scale predicts the total 29-item score well, achieving a correlation of .9145 for the reduced form for the model fitting sample and .8952 for the validation sample. The results indicate that a drastically abbreviated version, which cuts administration time by more than 70%, can be safely administered as a predictor of PVRT performance.

Keywords: Penn Verbal Reasoning Test; predictive model; scale reduction.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Histogram of the total number of incorrect items. Note. The distribution appears to follow that of a Poisson distribution. A Shapiro–Wilk test of the data results in a test statistic of 0.92 (p < .001), signifying a departure from normality.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Predicted total number of correct items versus the actual total number of correct items along with the 45 degree line, for the model construction data set. Note. Jittering was used to allow for viewing of overlapping points.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Almasy L, Gur RC, Haack K, Cole SA, Calkins ME, Peralta JM, Gur RE. A genome screen for quantitative trait loci influencing schizophrenia and neurocognitive phenotypes. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2008;165(9):1185–1192. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bilker WB, Brensinger C, Kurtz MM, Kohler C, Gur RC, Siegel SJ, Gur RE. Development of an abbreviated schizophrenia quality of life scale using a new method. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2003;28(4):773–777. - PubMed
    1. Bilker WB, Hansen JA, Brensinger C, Richard J, Gur RE, Gur RC. Development of abbreviated nine-item forms of the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices Test. Assessment. 2012;19(3):354–369. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Calamia M, Markon K, Denburg NL, Tranel D. Developing a short form of Benton's Judgment of Line Orientation Test: An item response theory approach. Clinical Neuropsychologist. 2011;25(4):670–684. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Calkins ME, Tepper P, Gur RC, Ragland JD, Klei L, Wiener HW, Gur RE. Project among African-Americans to explore risks for schizophrenia (PAARTNERS), evidence for impairment and heritability of neurocognitive functioning in families of schizophrenia patients. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2010;167(4):459–472. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types