Jd. Nadler et al., LATERALITY DIFFERENCES IN QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE HOOPER PERFORMANCE, Archives of clinical neuropsychology, 11(3), 1996, pp. 223-229
The Hooper Visual Organization Test (HVOT) is a measure of visuospatia
l processing commonly employed in neuropsychological assessment. Despi
te the well-documented relationship between visuospatial abilities and
right hemisphere function, the literature has not supported a right h
emisphere association with HVOT performance. The current study was con
ducted to examine laterality differences in HVOT performance. Sixty-se
ven geriatric stroke patients (44 right CVAs, 23 left CVAs) were admin
istered the HVOT and the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMS). Results reveale
d significant differences between CVA groups for total score, with rig
ht CVA patients performing more poorly. Qualitative error analyses rev
ealed highest frequencies for part responses and don't know/no respons
e errors. Between-group differences were seen for part and unformed/un
associated errors (higher right CVA rates), and language-based errors
(higher left CVA rates). Findings are consistent with theories of brai
n lateralization and suggest that whereas HVOT performance predominant
ly involves right hemisphere functions, left hemisphere dysfunction ma
y also lead to impaired performance, and the two can be discriminated
by qualitative analysis of the errors.