3-WORD RECALL AS A MEASURE OF MEMORY

Clinical examination of memory functions often includes the administra tion of simple free recall tasks, such as the recall of several words following a few minutes. Little is known, however, about the normative parameters or psychometric properties of such procedures, and such te chniques have rarely been compared with more comprehensive, well-stand ardized memory indices. To address these issues, two three-word recall tasks were administered to a large group of carefully selected health y subjects over the age of 50 years. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was obtained as an index of global cognitive status, and the C alifornia Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) was used to exclude subjects wit h abnormal memory abilities. Significant but modest relationships were found between two three-word recall tasks and CVLT results. Substanti al variability was seen on three-word recall, with a significant propo rtion of normal subjects recalling zero or one word, Results suggest u sing caution in interpreting simple recall performance as an index of memory, as great variability in results is seen among healthy (particu larly older) individuals.